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Roger Williams, A Political Pioneer 

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THE GRAFTON PRESS 

70 Fifth Avenue. 6 Beacon Street 

New York Boston 



ROGER WILLIAMS 



A STUDY OF THE LIFE, TIMES AND 
CHARACTER OF A POLITICAL PIONEER 



BY 



EDMUND J. CARPENTER, Litt.D. 

AUTHOR OF "AMERICA IN HAWAII," ETC. 







THE GRAFTON PRESS 

PUBLISHERS NEW YORK 






Copyright, 1909, 
By the GRAFTON PRESS 



©Ci.A252 






To 

The President and Fellows 
OF Brown University 



PREFACE 

With the broadening of human thought and sympathies, 
and the consequent weakening of division walls, separating 
the various sects of Protestant Christianity, which have 
distinguished the past few years, there has come an in- 
creased sense of human brotherhood. Never in the his- 
tory of the human race has the public conscience been so 
sensitive as in these opening years of the twentieth cen- 
tury. At no period has there been so little contention 
concerning doctrine; never has there been so broad an 
insistence upon the fundamentals of belief and the demands 
of ethics. For more than a century past the discussion 
which has waged, often bitterly, concerning the true con- 
ception of the character of Roger Williams has had its 
basis too firmly fixed chiefly upon a doctrinal foundation. 
The day has dawned when it is possible to lay aside such 
considerations and to study the character of one of the 
most remarkable men of his day, as of a man among men; 
to consider from a political and personal, rather than from a 
strictly religious, point of view, the times in which he lived 
and the circumstances by which he and others were con- 
trolled ; to study the peculiarities of his disposition and of 
those around him, and to form our final opinion, crystal- 
ized by these considerations, rather than by popular no- 
tions, which may have been held, either by his extreme 



admirers, or by those whose opinion of his character has 
been less favorable. 

In pursuing this study and analysis of the character of 
this man, the author has thought proper to consult orig- 
inal authorities alone, deeming the facts of history and the 
statements of the man himself, or of his contemporaries, 
and the inferences to be drawn from them, to be of more 
real value than the opinions of writers, whose sources of 
information have been limited to the same records and 
documents. He has endeavored to produce only a picture 
of the man himself, from which the reader will be quite 
capable of forming opinions, unaided by suggestions from 
the collector and compiler of the facts. ■ 

The propriety of entering upon a study and record, such 
as is here presented, was first suggested to the author by 
his brother, George Moulton Carpenter, late judge of the 
United States courts in Providence. It has been a source 
of the deepest regret that his sudden death, before the 
work had hardly been begun, deprived the writer of advice 
and suggestion, which could not have failed to be of the 
greatest value. 



CONTENTS 
INTRODUCTION . . , . . 



The English separatists. The rise of diverse sects. Twelfth 
century struggles for religious freedom. The act of supremacy. 
The rise of separatism. Robert Browne and Brownism. Liberal 
sentiment and William of Orange. Execution of Copping and 
Thacker. Writings of Martin Mar, prelate. Work of Greenwood 
and Barrowe. Their execution. Apostacy of Browne. Migration 
to Holland. The Anabaptists. The Mennonites. Alva and the 
flight from Holland. The act of banishment. The Scrooby 
congregation. Fourfold nature of the struggle for religious liberty. 
Loyola and the Jesuits. Henry VIII and the English church. The 
Pope's offer of arbitration. The prostestantism of Elizabeth. Her 
Act of Supremacy. Rise of the Puritans. Hooper and his 
non-conformism. Mary and her religious reign. The vestment 
controversy. The Act of Uniformity. The Puritan resistance. 
Puritan and Separatists. A new comer in New England. 



CHAPTER I 3 

Arrival of Roger Williams at Boston. His birth and ancestor. A 
genealogical controversy. His education. His love episode and 
the Barrington letters. Ride of Hooker, Williams and Cotton to 
Sempringham. Jane Whalley. Williams invited to supply the 
pulpit of the First Church in Boston. The wife of Williams. 
Marriage of Jane Whalley. 



CHAPTER II 28 

Williams declines the invitation and withdraws to Plymouth. 
Williams a Separatist. Demands repentance of Boston Church. 
Missing records of the Salem Church. Goes to Plymouth. His 
life there. Gov. Winthrop's visit to Plymouth. Disputatious 
temperament of Williams. Birth of daughter of Williams. 
Bradford's estimate of Williams. Mutual affection of Winthrop 
and Williams. 



X Contents 

CHAPTER III 43 

Williams removes from Plymouth to Salem. The separatists of 
that settlement. Renewal of controversies. Attack upon the 
ministerial association. The attack upon the validity of the patent. 
Attack upon the King. A hastily called conference. Williams 
confesses error. Controversy with John Cotton. The question 
of veils. Cotton's remarkable sermon. Endicott and the En- 
sign. The oath of fidelity. Williams attacks the oath. 

CHAPTER IV 59 

Political status of the colony of Massachusetts Bay. Sir Ferd- 
inando Gorges and Captain Mason falsely accuse the colonists. 
Sir Christopher Gardiner. Winthrop and Bradford. Gorges dream 
of the empire. The settlement of Wessagaset. Grant to Endicott. 
John Mason and his claim. Career of Sir Christopher. Thomas 
Morton and his settlement. The maypole of Merry Mount. 
Morton furnishes arms to the Indians. Bradford denounces 
Morton. His arrest and deportation. Distress in New England. 

CHAPTER V 81 

Arrest of Morton ordered. Sentence to be deported. Morton's 
reputation in England. Philip Ratcliffe and his offence. His 
sentence of mutilation and banishment. Morton's version of the 
affair. The sentence remitted. Ratcliffe deported. The attack 
upon the charter in England. Gardiner, Morton and Ratcliffe wit- 
nesses against the colonists. Governor Winthrop's shrewd con- 
duct. The spirit of colonization. The Pope's grant of land in 
North America. The statute of praemunire. Rights of Spain 
and Portugal in the new world. First attempts at English colo- 
nization in America. Colonial rights under the charter. Later 
fortunes of Thomas Morton. Morton's record of the Ratcliffe 
matter. 

CHAPTER VI 92 

^ Endicott's reason for mutilating the colors. Attitude of King 
Charles towards the Massachusetts colony. Archbishop Laud's 
attention attracted. Colonists prepare for an attack. Military 
preparations. Boston's beacon. Critical condition of affairs 
in Massachusetts. Attack of Williams upon the patent sim- 
ultaneous with that of Gorges. Williams' assault upon the royal 
prerogative. 



Contents xi 

CHAPTER VII 99 

Death of the Rev. Mr. Skelton, pastor at Salem. Williams called 
to Salem. Breaks his promise to Massachusetts magistrates. Sum- 
moned by magistrates to appear at Boston. Hearing in Boston 
upon his case. His opinions adjudged to be dangerous. He refuses 
to communicate with the churches. The Salem church joins 
with him in opposing the magistrates. Salem deputies suspended. 
Endicott declared to be in contempt. Williams ordered to de- 
part from the jurisdiction of the colony. The Salem church ac- 
knowledges error. Hooker's sharp argument with Williams. 
Williams renounces communion with the Salem church. Case of 
Israel Stoughton. Sentence of Williams suspended. He resumes 
his belligerent attitude. It is determined to deport Williams. His 
flight from Salem. 



CHAPTER VIII 112 

Williams' love of controversy. Dr. Johnson's discussion of the 
subject of the liberty of conscience Bradford's comment on 
Williams. Probable cause of Williams' withdrawal from Plymouth. 
Some of his characteristics. His work among the Indians. Some 
inconsistencies. Williams an owner of real estate in Salem. His 
banishment an enlargement. [Cotton Mather's record of the banish- 
ment of Williams. Governor Winslow's affection for Williams. 
Winslow's record of the cause of Williams' banishment. Sir 
William Martin's letter to Winthrop. 



CHAPTER IX 126 

Wanderings of Williams after his banishment. His settlement 
at Seekonk and later at the head waters of the Narragansett. His 
companions. His review of his banishment in a letter to Cotton. 
Reply of Cotton. The removal across Seekonk. The Indians' 
salute. The settlement at Providence. Williams forms a democracy. 
The Providence compact. Williams a close friend of Cananicus 
and Miantonamoh. A large tract of country conveyed to him. 
The historic initial deed. Conveyances. 



CHAPTER X , 141 

The new colony soon troubled. Joshua Verin and his wife. 
Winthrop's record of the Verin episode. Disaffections among 
New England colonists. Troubles among the Providence colo- 
nists. 



xii Contents 

CHAPTER XI 148 

The Pequods and their attitude towards the colonists. Williams 
as a peacemaker. Correspondence in Pequod matter. The league 
with the Narragansetts. Dastardly act of four Massachusetts 
men. Arrest of the murderers, trial and execution. 

CHAPTER XII 163 

Williams interested in tenets of anabaptists. Ezekiel Holli- 
man. Mrs. Scott. Holliman and Williams join in re baptisms. 
Williams soon repudiates the new baptism. Williams concerning 
immersion. Cotton Mather's record. Curious new departure 
of Williams. His controversy with John Cotton. 

CHAPTER XIII 177 

Williams starts for England to procure a charter. His work 
as a pacificator at New Amsterdam. Sails for England. Important 
literary work on the voyage. Reaches England. The Long 
parliament in session. Negotiates for charter. His movement 
for providing the London poor with coal. Issues his " Blovdy 
Tenant." John Cotton's reply and Williancis' rejoinder. The 
Virginia Declaration of Rights and the Declaration of Independence 
antedated by Williams. " Bloudy Tenant." The Cotton- 
Williams Controversy. Williams' " Queries of Highest Consideration." 
Discovery of a hitherto unknown Williams' pamphlet. Williams 
negotiates with Warwick for a charter. Is successful. Sets out 
,upon his return voyage. Applies for permission to pass through 
Boston, which is granted. 



CHAPTER XIV 192 

Williams again at Providence. Resumes his work as an Indian 
pacificator. A meeting of commissioners. Report of messengers. 
War fortunately averted. A treaty of peace concluded conten- 
tions among the colonists and efforts of Williams to quell them. 
Coddington's coup. Williams despatched again to England. His 
petition to Massachusetts Bay for permit to pass through its terri- 
tory. Sails for England from Boston. Appearance of his "Bloudy 
Tenant yet more Bloudy." Intimacy of Williams with Milton. 
His familiarity with the Dutch language. His correspondence 
with Mrs. Sadlier. Is entertamed by Sir Henry Vane. Codding- 
ton's commission vacated. Williams returns to New England. 



Contents xiii 

CHAPTER XV 207 

Friendship of Williams with Winthrop. Their correspondence. 
Earthquake in New England. Records of Bradford and Winthrop 
concerning the phenomenon. Correspondence with John Cotton 
the younger. The William Harris episode. Defense of Williams 
in the Harris controversy. Commercial ventures of Williams at 
Narragansett. His means of livelihood. Family relations of 
Williams. Birth record of his children. 

CHAPTER XVI 231 

Controversy of Williams with George Fox. Visit of Fox at 
Aquidneck. Williams' challenge. Rows from Providence to 
Newport to engage in debate. The famous debate in the Quaker 
meeting-house at Newport. Publication of "George Fox digg'd 
out of his Burrowes". Rejoinder of Fox in "A New England Fire- 
brand Quenched" The controversy characterized. Character of 
Williams analyzed. Bradford's estimate of the man. His one 
great discovery. Death of Williams. His grave and the apple 
tree which grew from it. Conclusion. 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

The Roger Williams Statue . . . Frontispiece 

The Charter House . . . Facing page 1 4 

Roger Williams' Dwelling, at Salem, Mass- , .120 

The Abbott House (l658). Providence, R. I. .164 



INTRODUCTION 



THE ENGLISH SEPARATISTS 



The century which saw the rise of the Reformation saw, 
also, in some of the countries of Europe, what was a 
necessary sequence, the rise of diverse reHgious sects. 
More properly speaking, perhaps, it saw, in England, the 
development, not merely of religious sects, but of a senti- 
ment which, finding its natural outlet in religion, expanded 
itself, until it invaded the realm of politics, and broadened 
and established a new theory in the life of men and the 
conduct of nations. The sixteenth century was an era of 
transition, a period in which the human mind, dimly look- 
ing into the mists of the future, was girding and preparing 
itself for a struggle which was to end, long years after, in 
the establishment of new thoughts, new principles, a 
broader life, and a more thorough recognition of human 
rights and duties. And yet, the sentiment of freedom in 
religious thought did not spring forth, fully fledged, at the 
dawn of the Reformation. Even so long ago as the twelfth 
century, a company of weavers of Worcester, who thought 
that they saw before them a glimmer of light — a light which 
years after, brightened into the full dawn, — honored with 
the name of heretic, paid with their lives the penalty of 
their presumption. 

But the lash, the pillory, and the stake have ever failed 
to do their perfect work. The flames might consume the 
bodies of men, b«t they have never caused the human mind 
to cease its activity, nor served to check its onward progress 
toward freedom. Plantaganet and Lancaster, York and 



xviii Introduction 

Tudor each in turn found his realm infected with doctrines 
and tendencies which, to him, appeared fraught with the 
gravest danger to the church and to the nation. Each 
century saw a strengthening of this sentiment and a deeper 
rooting of the tiny plant which would, one day, grow into 
a stately tree. Four hundred years after the thirty weav- 
ers of Worcester had been scourged and driven out of the 
city, to perish of exposure and hunger, the Act of Suprem- 
acy cancelled the power of the Bishop of Rome in Eng- 
land, and declared Henry to be the head of the English 
church. 

Broken loose from the bonds of Rome the people of 
England found themselves embarked, as it were, on an un- 
known sea of religious thought, and in a condition of un- 
rest and transition. The advent of the era of the Reforma- 
tion, and the establishment of the English church, did not 
serve to satisfy those minds which were reaching out into 
yet broader fields ; and these began to be known as Sepa- 
ratists. In the days of Edward VI and of Mary Tudor 
there were many secret gatherings by night, in private 
dwellings, at which were taught those doctrines which led 
many of their advocates to martyrdom. Elizabeth, a 
sovereign far more beneficent than her immediate prede- 
cessor, sympathizing with Protestantism, saw many rea- 
sons why, to her mind, the English establishment should 
be maintained; for through it were maintained the validity 
of the divorce of Katherine and of the marriage of Anne 
Boleyn, her own legitimacy, and the security of her throne. 
The queen felt no hesitancy, therefore, whenever a con- 
gregation was discovered engaged in their secret and in- 
terdicted worship, in casting the participants into prison. 
The loathsome condition of the prisons of England in that 
day, and the atrocious and cruel manner in which they 
were conducted, comprise one of the darkest blots which 



Introduction xix 

stain English civilization. Many of the victims of ecclesi- 
astical persecution died under the torture of incarceration 
and thus received a happy release. 

Robert Browne, to whom perhaps belongs the honor 
of having first in England actively promulgated the once 
dangerous doctrine of a separation of Church and State, 
was, at the outset of his career, at the age of twenty-one, 
a graduate of Cambridge, in holy orders in the Church of 
England, and the private chaplain to the Duke of Norfolk. 
He would appear to have been a youth given to some in- 
dependence of thought, for he is recorded as having early 
given offence to the ecclesiastical authorities, by the ad- 
vocacy of some erratic doctrines. This offence seems to 
have been overlooked, doubtless through the influence of 
his patron; but a few years later, he was rebuked by the 
bishop of the diocese in which he was preaching, for pro- 
mulgating doctrines, which did not comport with his posi- 
tion as a priest of the establishment. Deprived of his 
living, Browne openly became a dissenter. Teaching 
and preaching in the open air, in fields and pastures, to 
whomsoever would listen, Robert Browne speedily became 
a power in certain districts of England. In Norfolk he 
came in contact with a former college acquaintance, Robert 
Harrison by name, whose mind also had been turned to- 
wards the doctrines of these strange people. Together the 
two went to Norwich, where a congregatioe was gathered, 
to which they ministered. At Bury St. Edmunds, in Suf- 
folk, also they labored; but here they were apprehended 
upon charge of gathering congregations of dissent- 
ers, in private houses, to listen to heretical and treasonable 
doctrines. After serving for a time in prison for this of- 
fence the two were released. Their fate was banishment, 
a fate which was to them a release from persecution and 
a permission to dwell in a foreign land, under happier 



XX Introduction 

auspices than had been theirs in thieir own country. But 
in migrating to Holland, Browne left behind him a name 
which, attaching itself firmly to the sect which he had 
helped to establish, served, no doubt, to increase the 
feeling of antagonism felt toward him by the ecclesias- 
tical authorities.^ 
r~ It was in 1581 that Browne and his congregation took 
up their abode in the Dutch city of Middleburg, where 
was, even then, a small colony of Anabaptists. Against 
these the authorities of the city had, in 1577, set on 
foot a persecution, which had been checked by William 
of Orange. *'You have no right to trouble your- 
selves with any man's conscience," he said, **so long as 
nothing is done to cause harm or public scandal;"^ a 
sentiment which, however novel at that day, receives in 
modern times its full recognition. In his safe retreat at 
Middleburg, Browne entered the ranks of the pam- 
phleteers and put forth for circulation in England, books 
in which were taught doctrines then regarded as nothing 
else than assaults upon the Queen's supremacy. Thus 
the eastern counties of England were flooded with these 
books and pamphlets, sent across the North Sea from 
Holland. These publications were, of course, speedily 
interdicted and their circulation forbidden. 

In 1583 John Copping and Elias Thacker, who had 
been active in the distribution of the writings of Browne 
and of Harrison were apprehended, put upon their trial, 
convicted and sentenced to death. The sentence was 
promptly executed, and two more names were added to 
the already long list of martyr Separatists. A dramatic 
act at the execution of the sentence upon these men was 



^The Separatists were also known as Brownists. 
^Motley— The Rise of the Dutch Republic, iii, 334. 



Introduction xxi 

the burning, in their sight, before arrival of the fatal 
moment, of as many copies of the objectionable books as 
the authorities had been able to gather together. 

The attempt thus made to stifle human thought proved 
futile. In 1588 the attention of the people of England 
was attracted to a series of pamphlets, secretly issued 
and widely disseminated, under the signature of Martin 
Mar-prelate. These writings were in a satirical vein and 
thus served to attract wide attention, and called forth 
varied comment. The most strenuous efforts were made 
to discover the authorship of these writings, but these 
efforts were vain and it still remains as deep a secret as 
the authorship of the letters of Junius. These writings 
served however, to keep alive the flame which had long 
been burning, and the anathemas of ecclesiastics were 
powerless to quench it. 

A few years later still, two names more were added to 
the roll of martyr Separatists — names which have been 
handed down to us as among the active promoters of these 
doctrines, so obnoxious to statesman and ecclesiastic. 
John Greenwood, a young clergyman of the Established 
church, had by some means come into possession of one 
of the tracts of Browne. It made a deep impression upon 
his mind and doubtless had its effect upon his ministra- 
tions, in his country parish of Norfolk. His utterances 
attracted the attention of the bishop and, in 1585, Green- 
wood was deprived of his living. Drifting into Essex, he 
began to hold meetings at Rochford Hall. Pursued by 
the bishop. Greenwood fled to London, where he found 
a large company of Separatist brethren, who were wor- 
shipping in secret. In 1587 he was discovered and ar- 
rested, with a considerable company, upon charge of being 
present at private conventicles. In prison he met a fel- 
low sufferer, Henry Barrowe, a young barrister, whose 



^2cii Introduction 

name later became identified with this persecuted sect. 
For five years the two remained prisoners, engaged mean- 
while in writing tracts in dissemination of their faith. 
In 1593 the two were put upon their trial and condemned 
to death. Twice were they reprieved, even after the 
halters had been put about their necks. Their third 
journey to the scaffold was their last. 

Thus did England endeavor to root out heresy from 
among the people and by this means to maintain the 
English church and the Queen's supremacy. But this 
severity availed little. Although Robert Browne, in 
1586, apostatized from the new faith and returned to the 
fold of the Established church, where he officiated as a 
priest for many years, the work in which he had been a 
leader went on. It was seven years after this apostasy 
that Greenwood and Barrowe forfeited their lives upon 
the scaffold, and in these years the number of the Sep- 
aratists had not diminished, but the rather had increased. 
Fully twenty thousand names now were inscribed on the 
roll of this sect. These made their homes chiefly in the 
east counties of England and in 'and about London. The 
roll of the dead in the cause has never been fully made up. 

Alarmed at this increase in the sect, which it seemed 
impossible to exterminate, the English authorities now 
enacted a statute which provided that any person above 
sixteen years of age, who should absent himself from 
church, without good excuse, for the space of one month, 
who should induce others to stay away, or who should 
write or speak anything derogatory to the royal authority, 
in ecclesiastical matters, should, at the end of three months, 
if refusing to conform, be banished from the kingdom. 
All convicted persons, refusing to leave the realm, or re- 
turning from banishment, without permission so to do, 
were to suffer death. 



Introduction xxiii 

This statute was in effect a release from prison of hun- 
dreds of poor creatures, who were suffering untold tor- 
tures for conscience's sake. Then it was that began a 
great migration of these people from England, across the 
North Sea, into that Holland from which their Anabap- 
tist friends had been driven by the savage cruelties of the 
Spanish Alva. 

As early as 1522 had risen in Holland this sect called 
Anabaptists, some of the tenets of which survive until the 
present day. Denying the validity of infant baptism, 
these people accepted also, in all their literalness, the doc- 
trines of the sin of bearing arms, of resisting evil, of ap- 
pealing to law, of taking judicial oaths, or judging others. 
In Anabaptism was in reality the germ root, from out 
which grew the great principle of resistance to ecclesias- 
tical centralization. It was more than a sect; it was a 
system. A term of reproach, the name of Anabaptist grew, 
among thoughtful people, to become one of honor; and 
from these people sprang a variety of sects, many of which 
have their survival to the present day. A new leader 
who arose, Menno Simons, founded and gave his name 
to the people called Mennonites; and in this and the des- 
ignations of other sects, which arose upon this foundation, 
the name distinctive of Anabaptist gradually disappeared. 

It was this germ root from whence sprang the greater 
part of the modern ideas in religion and statecraft, which 
have made the broadest impress upon thought and char- 
acter. "In whatever else they differ," says William Elliot 
Griffis, "the ancestors and their descendants agree in 
these points: the liberation of religion from sectarian, 
priestly and political control; the elimination of the mob 
of middlemen in religion and the swarm of mediators be- 
tween God and man; the practical abolition of monopoly 
and privilege in religion; the separation of Church and 



xxiv Introduction 

State; freedom of conscience; the priesthood of believers; 
the rights of the independent congregation; honest trans- 
lations of the Bible; the liberty of prophesying; prison 
reform; abolition of human slavery; the salvation of in- 
fants and of the seekers after God in non-Christian lands; 
the equalization of the sexes in religion and privilege; 
and, an avowed social and political as well as spiritual 
reform." Such was the outgrowth from the spirit of 
Anabaptism. There were some of the Anabaptists of 
Holland, it is true, who plunged into strange excess, 
including the adoption of a plurality of wives, following, 
in this, the example of the patriarchs. But this was an 
episode, and the example of the few did not make its 
impress upon the many; and this feature soon fell into 
abeyance. 

In the year 1567, driven by the persecutions of Alva, 
a great exodus of these people, — fully one hundred thou- 
sand in number — occurred. Fleeing to England they 
found their homes and settled in the counties of Norfolk, 
Suffolk and Essex. It was in these counties, and in those 
of York, Nottingham and Lincoln, not far distant, where 
were found many members of the sect of Separatists, who, 
later came to be variously known as Brownists, Barrowists 
and Independents. Naturally, here they came in contact 
with their fellow non-conformists from over the sea, and 
when, at the adoption of the Act of Banishment, the em- 
igration to Holland began, the Separatists had already 
become imbued with ' some of the doctrines which had 
been brought to England by their Anabaptist brethren. 

Later in the history of these remarkable people, when 
James I had succeeded to the throne of Elizabeth, the 
little remnant of Separatists, who had gathered together 
in Scrooby, attempted to follow the great body of their 
fellow religionists to Holland. But the folly of the Act 



Introduction xxv 

of Banishment had been seen, since, with a free press in 
Holland, the refugees had been able to advance their 
cause in England, by sending their literature across the 
sea, far better than they could have performed this ser- 
vice had they remained in England/ The story of the 
escape of the Scrooby congregation, their subsequent 
settlement in Leyden, and their emigration and final set- 
tlement at Plymouth in New England, is a story as famil- 
iar, as it is attractive, to American ears. 

This is, briefly told, the story of the Separatists of Eng- 
land, whose connection with the subject of this history will 
disclose itself, as the narrative expands; whose doctrines, 
especially those which have made the deepest impress 
upon the world's civilization he adopted, and which he, 
years later, expounded and developed. 

The struggle for religious freedom in England, in the 
sixteenth century, however, was quadrangular. We have 
already seen how, from out the stock of the Established 
church grew luxuriantly the branch which we call by the 
name of Separatists. The great revival of learning, which 
had swept over Europe and which is known to history as 
the Renaissance, was accompanied by a quickening of 
the popular conscience, a sentiment which had its expo- 
nents in Luther and in Calvin and in their fellow lead- 
ers in the Reformation. With Luther and Calvin, upon 
the stage of life, came beside them a third figure. No 
less earnest and sincere in his leadership, than were the 
fathers of the Reformation in theirs, was Ignatius Loyo- 
la, the founder of the Order of the Jesuits. Side by side 
with the struggle of conformist and non-conformist, was 
waged, by Loyola and his adherents, the struggle for the 
extermination of both. During this struggle, which now 



^Motley— The Rise of the Dutch Republic, iii, 616 et seq. 



xxvi Introduction 

bade fair to be won by one faction and now by the other, 
sprang full panoplied as from the earth, a new sect, des- 
tined to exert an influence quite as powerful, within its 
sphere, as was that of the Jesuits. The English church, 
founded in England by Henry the Eighth, at the refu- 
sal of the pope to sanction his divorce from Katherine 
of Aragon, was, as we have already seen, strengthened 
and upheld by Elizabeth, the daughter of Anne Boleyn. 
This monarch, upon the death of her sister Mary and 
her own accession to power in England, despatched mes- 
sengers, according to custom, to the several courts of 
Europe, to announce that a new sovereign had ascended 
the English throne. Elizabeth could not have anticipa- 
ted that this intelligence would be received with univer- 
sal pleasure. She was quite sure that her name would 
not be received at the French court with acclaim; since 
Mary Stuart of Scotland, once the wife of the dauphin 
of France, was, in the view of every true Frenchman and 
Romanist, the rightful sovereign of England. At Rome 
she could scarcely have expected a warm welcome for 
her emissary; for had not the Holy See refused to her 
father, Henry its blessing upon his union with the mother 
of the new queen ? It could not have been with surprise, 
then, that she listened to the message sent by the vener- 
able pontiff, Paul IV, that he was unable to comprehend 
the hereditary right of one who was not born in lawful 
wedlock; that the Queen of Scots was undoubtedly the 
legitimate sovereign of England; but that he was willing 
to act as arbitrator in the controversy, if Elizabeth should 
be willing to submit it to his judgment. It is readily 
understood that the new queen, young and imperious, 
had no thought of submitting the question of her legit- 
imacy and of her constitutional right to the throne, to 
the arbitration of one who, in the same breath in which 



Introduction xxvii 

he offered his services, had declared his prejudgment 
of the matter to be arbitrated. With such strained re- 
lations with the Papacy, Elizabeth could scarcely expect 
that the pope would listen to a request from Philip of 
Spain, for a dispensation, by which he might be enabled 
to contract a matrimonial alliance with his sister-in-law, 
and thus continue to be the Prince Consort of England. 
Thus hedged about, Elizabeth had no choice but to 
declare for Protestantism, if she would maintain her 
sovereignty. But Elizabeth, during the reign of Mary, 
for prudential reasons, doubtless, had espoused the faith 
of Rome. She allowed the burial of her sister to be at- 
tended with the full pomp and ceremonials of the Roman 
church. She allowed a bishop of that church to place 
her own crown upon her head. She was fond of the 
gorgeous ceremonials, the ritual, and the vestments of 
the church of Rome; and it was not without a struggle 
that she brought herself to renounce them. Indeed, in 
the details of the worship of the English church, Eliza- 
beth long and sturdily struggled for a retention of much 
which the Calvinistic reformers rejected. Long after 
the lighted candles and the crucifix had been banished 
from the English churches, the queen retained them in 
her own private chapel. She insisted upon the reten- 
tion of the Roman vestments, by her clergy. She long 
maintained her belief in the Real Presence; and she insist- 
ed upon the celibacy of her clergy. Indeed, Elizabeth, 
so far as doctrine and ceremonial were concerned, was 
Protestant scarcely more than in name. The Papal See 
insisted upon its supremacy, as well in political as in re- 
ligious affairs; it threw the weight of its influence against 
the de facto queen of England, and in favor of the preten- 
sions of the Queen of Scots. 



xxviii Introduction 

The jQrst act passed by the parhament summoned by 
EHzabeth, after her accession, was the Act of Supremacy. 
This act provided the penalties of treason for those who 
presumed to deny that the queen was "the only supreme 
governor within the realm, as well in spiritual or eccle- 
siastical causes and things as temporal." To maintain her 
own supremacy, then, Elizabeth not alone declared her- 
self and her realm to be independent of the dictation of 
the Roman pontiff, but also declared herself to be, in his 
stead, in England, the head of both State and Church. 
It was the opening of the gates for those who were to 
come after, who, on the other side of the sea, should en- 
lighten the world in the great precept that, to govern a 
state, in the fear of God, is not an attribute of ecclesi- 
asticism alone; and that, to control aright the affairs of 
God's church, is alike the duty and the privilege of His 
ministers and of His people, unhampered and undis- 
turbed by political sovereignty. 

And now, at the outset of her reign, a new sect arose to 
vex the young queen. As a Protestant, Elizabeth had, as 
already seen, retained an attachment to many of the forms 
of the Roman church. In this she had consistently fol- 
lowed Luther, for his idea of a reformation in the church 
had touched matters of doctrine alone. The teachings 
of Calvin, however, went much further than this; and in 
the churches of Calvinistic faith the utmost plainness of 
ceremonial, of ornamentation and of dress were affected. 
During the reign of Mary, many of these extreme reformers 
had been sent to the stake and many others had fled for 
their lives. When these refugees saw a Protestant sov- 
ereign upon the throne, they were encouraged to return 
and soon their voices were again heard in England. It 
was in the antagonism which at once arose, between a 
queen, on the one hand, who retained a strong preference 



Introduction xxix 

for the ancient ceremonials of Rome, and a large body of 
the clergy, on the other, who were sturdy adherents of 
the complete reformation urged by Calvin, that the power- 
ful body known as the Puritans had its rise. 

This sect differed from the Separatists, in that they 
advocated no separation from the Established Church of 
England. In May, 1629, Francis Higginson, leading his 
followers to the New World, stood upon the prow of the 
vessel, which was bearing them out of sight of their native 
land, and exclaimed: "We will not say, as the Separa- 
tists were wont to say, at their leaving England, * Farewell, 
Babylon! farewell, Rome!'; but we will say: 'Farewell, 
dear England! farewell, the Church of God in England! 
and all the Christian friends there! We do not go to 
New England as separatists from the Church of England, 
though we cannot but separate from the corruptions in it; 
but we go to practise the positive part of church refor- 
mation and propagate the gospel in America.' " ^ 

Seeking to purify the church from the last lingering 
vestige of Romanism, these people were given the name 
which, alternately a term of reproach and of approbation, 
became in time a power throughout England, a power 
which reached its culmination, years later, in that historic 
tragedy, in front of the Banqueting House at Whitehall. 

The true beginning of Puritanism, however, must be 
fixed at a time even earlier than that of Elizabeth. Al- 
though these people were not known by the distinctive 
name of Puritans, until the days of the virgin queen, the 
principle of non-conformity first appeared, with John 
Hooper as its exponent, in the days of Henry the Eighth. 
Although this monarch's relations with the Holy See had 
suffered an open rupture, it would not appear that he 



^Mather's Magnalia Christi Americana, ii, 328. 



XXX Introduction 

sympathized with the religious movement known as the 
Reformation. As did, in later years, his daughter Eliza- 
beth, King Henry sought only to form a new church, with 
himself as the head, a church which should preserve all 
the doctrines and usages of Rome. His desire was merely 
to effect a schism, or a revolt against the claims of head- 
ship set up by the Bishop of Rome, and not a reforma- 
tion, or a recasting of the doctrines of the church. When, 
therefore, John Hooper appeared as the advocate in 
England, of the new thought, which had been advanced 
by Luther, he found it necessary to seek refuge from 
persecution in Switzerland. 

Returning to his own country on the accession of Ed- 
ward VI, he was appointed to the bishopric of Gloucester; 
but, on his refusal to wear the vestments of the Roman 
church he, instead of a bishop's palace, was given a home 
in a prison. After an imprisonment of a year his scruples 
were so far overcome, that he consented to be arrayed in 
the dress prescribed for a bishop, during his consecra- 
tion, with the understanding that, at other times he might 
be permitted to discard it. With this compromise Hooper 
was released and was consecrated Bishop of Gloucester, 
in March, 1551. Four years later, by order of Mary, 
he was burned at the stake, the first of the Puritan mar- 
tyrs. 

The severities which characterized the reign of Mary, 
served to check the spread of non-conformity, which she 
confounded with the Lutherism of Germany. But after 
the close of her inglorious reign, and the accession of her 
half-sister, as already seen, the exiles who had escaped 
the stake by taking refuge in Holland, Switzerland and 
elsewhere began to return and to resume their work. 
Many of the bishops of the reign of Elizabeth were open 
adherents of the new faith. The influence of the years 



Introduction xxxi 

passed in exile, and of the teachings of the continental 
reformers, especially of Calvin and his followers now 
began to be felt. The insistence of this new sect within 
the pale of the English church, was upon the rejection, 
not only of the headship of the Bishop of Rome, but also 
of the forms, ceremonies and doctrines of the Roman 
church. To many, indeed, the episcopacy itself became 
an abomination; and two orders only, of the clergy, it was 
claimed were sanctioned by the Scriptures. 

From this waning belief in the episcopacy grew forth a 
sentiment of disbelief in the necessary validity of episco- 
pal ordination. Many of the clergy of the English church 
at this time who held livings, had been set apart to the work 
of the ministry, after the congregational form, this or- 
dination being accepted, if not formally recognized, as 
valid. 

The example of Hooper, in refusing to wear the vest- 
ments of the church, was followed by many others. The 
alb and the stole became to be regarded by many as em- 
blematic of superstition, even as pictures and images in 
the churches, were regarded as idolatrous. A vigorous 
controversy arose and many of the clergy preferred the 
loss of their benefices to submission even to the compro- 
mise of the surplice. This growing discontent with the 
retention in the English church of the forms and symbols 
of Rome, excited the alarm of the queen. Especially 
was she alarmed when the agitation reached the great 
universities, and gown and surplice came more and 
more to be discarded. 

The vestment controversy, which largely, gave rise 
to Separatism, was followed by an earnest discussion of 
the use of the sign of the cross in baptism; of the custom 
of kneeling in partaking of the sacrament of the Last 
Supper, as being regarded as an act of adoration of the 



xxxii Introduction 

Real Presence; and of the employment of the organ and 
other instruments of music, as adjuncts to divine wor- 
ship. Upon a reformation in the church, which should 
include the abolition of these customs, the Puritan wing 
in the church steadily insisted; and their attitude was as 
vigorously resisted by the conformists. Indeed, the new 
sect began to demand that whatever savored of Rome 
should be abolished from the church, thus adopting the 
extreme position of Calvin. 

The Act of Supremacy was speedily followed by the Act 
of Uniformity. This act forbade the use in the churches, 
of any prayer book save the second of Edward VI; 
and it imposed a fine of one shilling upon all who absent- 
ed themselves from divine worship, without any lawful 
or reasonable excuse for such absence. Upon these two 
acts Elizabeth based those claims by which she, as sover- 
eign of England, assumed to control the consciences of 
her subjects and hold them in subjection, in matters ec- 
clesiastical as well as political. The great controversy 
which followed and which convulsed the nation, served 
to strengthen the ranks of the Puritan sect, and to raise 
up, in Cromwell and his followers, its great exponents, 
and in Archbishop Laud and his fellow ecclesiastics its 
bitter enemies. The Puritan resisted, as an invasion 
of his rights of conscience, the contention of the sover- 
eign, that the power lay in the crown to correct and pun- 
ish abuses of doctrine and worship. He denied the 
claim that the Church of Rome, despite its corruptions, 
was a true church; and he denied the right of the Bishop 
of Rome, in his claim to the headship of the Christian 
world. The Puritan held closely to the Scriptures as the 
true guide, in matters of government and discipline, as well 
as in matters of faith; a contention which his opponents 
did not admit. His opponents maintained the right of 



Introduction xxxiii 

the civil ruler to settle all questions of ceremonial and of 
ecclesiastical vesture, as things not touched upon in the 
Scriptures; this right the Puritan denied. This last 
named point of divergence was that which chiefly brought 
upon the Puritan sect the heavy hand of civil persecution, 
which caused many of them to flee to foreign lands, and 
which led both Puritan and Separatist to find homes in 
the New World. 

Wide as was the divergence between the sect of the 
Puritans and the adherents of the English church, it was 
scarcely wider than was the chasm between the two wings 
of non-conformists. While this divergence of doctrine 
was so great, it does not appear, however, that there was, 
at any time, either in England or in America, any incli- 
nation, on the part of Puritan, or of Separatist, to per- 
secute each other. Both sects had felt the heavy hand 
of the English law as administered by those in authority, 
and both fled before its weight. At Plymouth, in New 
England, a little company of Separatists found an asy- 
lum, after years of exile in Holland ; to Salem and to Bos- 
ton came the Winthrop company of Puritan settlers, to 
found t]ie-'^^vt^JSftgland_ theocracy. And yet, divergent 
in their ideas of church polity, and filled with an heredi- 
tary dislike of each other, these two settlements lived in 
the sweetest of amity; while in the Old World the dis- 
tinction between the two sects continued to be widely 
marked. The tree having become firmly planted in the 
New World, in the course of time the theological distinc- 
tion between Separatist and Puritan began to grow less and 
finally disappeared. The Puritan in New England, by 
virtue of his surroundings, his isolation, the political and 
ecclesiastical drift of the times, insensibly allowed the 
chasm between the two sects to grow less, and finally to 
disappear. And yet, with the memorjr of the bitterness 



xxxiv Introduction 

of religious dispute still fresh in his mind, it is not to be 
wondered that a new-comer among the New England 
Puritans, himself imbued with the doctrines and tra- 
ditions of Separatism, should have looked askance at 
those among whom he found himself, and should have 
felt impelled to continue the old controversies. 



ROGER WILLIAMS 



ROGER WILLIAMS 

CHAPTER I 

It was early in the month of February, in the year 1630, 
that the good ship Lyon, sixty-seven days from Bristol, 
England, dropped anchor at Nantasket, near the entrance 
to the harbor of Boston, in New England. She had had 
a very tempestuous passage, yet all, save one, of her twen- 
ty passengers arrived safe and in good health. One 
young man, named Way, had volunteered to assist the 
crew in the management of the vessel, during a tempest. 
While employed aloft, he missed his footing and fell from 
the spritsail yard into the sea. It was a fatal fall, for the 
sea ran high, wherein no boat could for a moment live. 
We may easily imagine the consternation of the parents 
of the unhappy lad, as they watched his fast receding form, 
until it disappeared forever in the deep. 

Four days later, upon the ninth day of February, the 
ship Lyon, in the midst of a field of drifting ice, dropped 
anchor before Boston. Among the passengers who land- 
ed was one to whom the attention of the people was at 
once directed. He was, so Governor John Winthrop 
recorded^ "a godley minister," or, as another chronicler 
describes him, a man "of good account in England, for 
a godly and zealous preacher."^ His name was Roger 
Williams. 



^Winthrop's History of New England. 

^Hubbard's General History of New England, ii, 202. 



-4 Roger Williams 

The coming of this man marked the beginning of an 
episode in the history of the Colony of Massachusetts 
Bay, brief, but remarkable. He was welcomed, doubt- 
less with delight and reverence; and yet, five years had 
not elapsed when he was directed, by vote of the Gen- 
eral Court, to "depart out of this jurisdiction," as a 
disturber of the peace of the colony. To the narrative 
and discussion of this brief episode, and of his later 
life, and hischaracter, the pages which follow are 
devoted. 

Who was this man, Roger Williams, who, in this man- 
ner, had come into the life of the colony.^ What city 
saw his birth, and who were his father and his mother? 
For many years these questions remained unanswered, 
and his parentage was a genealogical problem, fascinating, 
yet seemingly impossible of solution. Even as the linea- 
ments of his face, and the measure of his stature can be 
sketched by the idealist alone, so also the events of his 
early life, before he came to these shores, could only be 
imagined. Tradition, for years, ascribed to him a Welsh 
origin; but for this tradition no satisfactory foundation 
can be found. For want of a better, this theory of the 
nativity of Roger Williams was generally accepted by 
historians, and remained undisputed until the year 1889. 
In April of that year, a paper was read before the Rhode 
Island Historical Society, by Reuben A. Guild, LL.D., 
librarian of Brown University, in which the writer claimed 
to have made an important discovery. The claim 
was set forth that Roger Williams was the third son of 
William Willyams, of Roseworthy, near Gwinear, Corn- 
wall, England, born December 21, 1602. 

From the records concerning this family. Dr. Guild 
now made the further discovery that it comprised two 
other sons, William and Arthur, and one sister, named 



A Political Pioneer 5 

Margaret. In support of his theory, Dr. Guild shows 
that the Roger Williams of history, in a document exe- 
cuted in 1679S declared himself to be "now near to four- 
score years of age." The birth of Roger Williams of 
Cornwall in December, 1602, is certainly thoroughly in 
accord with this statement. But, furthermore, in subtle 
and ingenious argument. Dr. Guild shows, from Wil- 
liams' own writings, that the Roger Williams of history 
was not in good favor with his family, on account of his 
Separatist tendencies, having been, as he says in a letter 
written to Winthrop, in 1632, "persecuted in and out of 
my (his) father's house, these many years." Dr. Guild 
urges that the Willyams family of Cornwall were wealthy 
and proud, and were quite likely to have assumed an at- 
titude of hostility and disapproval towards a member 
who had become antagonistic to the English establish- 
ment. 

Again, Dr. Guild shows that Roger Williams declares, 
in his '^George Fox, Digg'd out of his Burrowes", that 
he had lost great sums in the chancery in England, which 
losses he chose to bear rather than submit to the impo- 
sition of a judicial oath. He argues that this might well 
apply to the Roger of Cornwall, who, he is sure, was the 
son of a wealthy mother. Still again. Dr. Guild turns 
to philology to account for the tradition of a Welsh origin 
of Roger Williams. He quotes Max Muller in saying 
that the ancient Cornish was a Celtic language, formed 
from the Cymric and Gaelic, in which the Welsh dialect 
was predominant. "Being brought up in the neighbor- 
hood of Wales," says Dr. Guild, "and possessing an ar- 
dent Welsh temperament, he would naturally be regarded 
as a Welshman, by those who gave the information, in 



m. I. Hist. Soc. Coll., iii, 168. 



6 Roger Williams 

1771, to Morgan Edwards, by whom the tradition of Wil- 
liams' Welsh origin was transmitted." 

Dr. Guild meets with some difficulty concerning a brother, 
Robert Williams, to whom Roger Williams makes oc- 
casional allusion in his writings, and whose name often 
appears in the Rhode Island records. He recognizes 
the fact that the name of Robert does not appear in the 
genealogy of the Willy ams family of Cornwall, a fact up- 
on which other genealogists, who oppose Dr. Guild, place 
great stress. Dr. Guild suggests, as a solution of this 
difficulty, that the terms "brother" and "brother-in-law" 
are often used interchangeably, and that Robert Williams 
may have been the brother-in-law of Roger, and not of 
his own blood. 

This is the ingenious argument which this distinguished 
historical student built up to sustain his theory of the 
identity of Roger Williams of history, with Roger, son 
of William Willy ams, of Roseworthy, near Gwinear, 
Cornwall. Other genealogists, and notably, Henry F. 
Waters, A.M., have disputed this theory, and, in the 
light of later researches, may be said to have dispelled 
it. In the interest of the New England Historic-Gen- 
ealogic Society, of Boston, Mr. Waters has made a careful 
search of the records of probate in London. In the year 
1889, the same year in which Dr. Guild promulgated 
his theory, he made some remarkable discoveries, which 
shed much light upon the subject of the parentage and 
early life of Roger Williams, and which, beyond doubt 
have solved the mystery which has so long perplexed his- 
torian and genealogists 

It is certain that the name of Roger Williams was by 



^New England Historical and Genealogical Register, July, 1889, pp. 290- 
303. Ibid. October, 1889, p. 427. 

/ 

y 



[A. Political Pioneer 7 

no means unique, in the Puritan age in England. In- 
deed, there was another New England settler of the name, 
who was a contemporary of his distinguished namesake, 
and who became a resident of Dorchester, in the Colony 
of Massachusetts Bay. The mere discovery, then, of 
the name among ancient records is, by no means, con- 
clusive proof that its owner was identical with the founder 
of Rhode Island. In his researches, Mr. Waters finds 
that still another Roger Williams was born in London, 
near the opening of the seventeenth century; and vari- 
ous genealogical tests have satisfied even the most credu- 
lous that he, indeed, it was who afterwards became 
famous as the apostle of separation of Church and State. 

This Roger Williams was one of a family of three sons 
and one daughter, the children of James Williams, "a 
citizen and merchant tailor of London," and of Alice, 
his wife. James Williams would appear to have been 
a man of some importance and of considerable property. 
His last will and testament was executed September 7, 
1620 and proved November 19, 1621, his death having, 
of course, occurred in the interim. 

In this will, James Williams bequeathed one-third part 
of his estate to his "loving wife, Alice, according to the 
custom of the city of London." To his sons, Sydrach, 
Roger and Robert, and to his daughter, Catherine, the 
wife of Ralph Wightman, he gave each a portion. The 
poor were well remembered, for to them of St. Sep- 
ulchre's, without Newgate; to them of Smithfield quarter, 
of Holborn Cross quarter, and of Church quarter, he 
left generous sums of money for their relief. 

Alice, the widow of James Williams survived her hus- 
band about thirteen years and, on the twenty-sixth of 
January, 1634, her will was admitted to probate. In this 
instrument she directed, among other bequests, that the 



8 Roger Williams 

sum of ten pounds yearly, for twenty years, should be 
paid to her son, Roger Williams, described as "now be- 
yond the seas,'* and she furthermore provided that "if 
he, the said Roger, shall not live to receive the same him- 
self, fully in such manner aforesaid," it is her will that 
"what remaineth thereof unpaid at his decease shall be 
paid to his wife and to his daughter, if they survive, or 
to such of them as shall survive." 

It will be remembered that Roger Williams described 
himself, in the year 1679, as "near to four-score years of 
age." There is a record that Sydrach Williams, the eld- 
er brother of this family, was married in the year 1621. 
Allowing for a probable difference of two years in the 
ages of the brothers, and upon the supposition that Sy- 
drach Williams was from twenty-one to twenty-four years 
of age at his marriage, the genealogist finds that Roger 
was probably born between 1599 and 1602, dates which 
tally well with the record just quoted. 

Mr. Waters thus finds no apparent discrepancy be- 
tween the age of Roger, the son of James Williams, and 
that of the Roger Williams of history, so far as it can be 
learned from his writings. Again, Mr. Waters argues, in 
support of his position, that Alice Williams, of St. Sepul- 
chre's, London, in January, 1634, bequeathed a certain 
sum of money to her son Roger, "now beyond the seas," 
with a reversion to his wife and daughter. At the date 
of the execution of this will, as Mr. Waters points out, 
Roger Williams was in New England, "beyond the seas," 
and he also makes significant the fact that he had then 
a wife and a daughter. Mr. Waters does not state his 
authority for this last statement, but it is undisputed 
that Roger Williams was accompanied by his wife, when 
he first came to New England; and The Early Records 
of the Town of Providence, published since Mr. Waters 



A Political Pioneer 9 

concluded his researches, include an entry that "Mary, 
ye daughter of Roger Wilhams and Mary his wife, was 
borne at Plymouth, ye first weeke in August, 1633 (so 
called)."^ 

Mr. Waters meets with no such difficulty as that which 
confronts Dr. Guild, in the matter of Robert Williams. 
He finds that the Roger Williams of St. Sepulchre's had 
a brother of that name, who received mention in the wills, 
both of his father and of his mother. That the Roofer 
Williams of history had a brother Robert is shown from 
his own writings, where he says: "Mine own brother, 
Mr. Robert Williams, Schoolmaster in Newport, desired 
to speak. "^ To this may be added the fact, of which Mr. 
Waters was perhaps not aware, that the early records 
of Providence make frequent mention of one Robert Will- 
iams, who was a man of some importance in the colony, 
frequently serving as moderator of the town meetings 
and, upon one occasion at least, serving as president of 
the general court. An important document, known as 
the "Compact of the Twenty-five Acre Purchasers," exe- 
cuted January 19, 1645, contains the names of Robert 
Williams and Roger Williams in close juxtaposition.^ 

That Robert Williams did not always remain a citizen 
of Providence is shown by a deed, printed in Volume III 
of The Early Records of the Town of Providence , and bear- 
ing date of October 13, 1671. In this instrument one John 
Scott conveys to Leander Smyth a certain parcel of land, 
described as one "which formerly belonged unto Robert 

^The Early Records of the Town of Providence. Edited by Horatio 
Rogers, George Moulton Carpenter and Edward Field, i, 7. 

"^George Fox Digged out of his Burrowes — Publications of the Narra- 
gansett Club, v, 47. 

^ee facsimile of Compact, which forms the frontispiece of Volume II 
of The Early Records of the Town of Providence. 



10 Roger Williams 

Williams, formerly inhabetant of Providence." There is, 
therefore, no discrepancy found between these records 
and Williams' statement concerning his brother Robert, 
a schoolmaster at Newport. 

In concluding the narrative of this remarkable contro- 
versy concerning the parentage of Roger Williams, it is 
interesting to note that Dr. Guild himself has furnished 
one of the strongest points of evidence for the upholding 
of the case of his antagonist. He calls attention to the 
fact that, in his George Fox Digged out of his BurroweSy 
Roger Williams says: 

^'Myself have seen the Old Testament of the Jews, most curious 
writing, whose price (in the way of trade) was three score pounds, 
which my brother, a Turkey merchant, had and shewed me." 

Had Roger Williams of St. Sepulchre's a brother who 
was a Turkey merchant.^ Surely Robert Williams was 
not in trade with the Orient, for he was a schoolmaster at 
Newport. Sydrach Williams, as well as his father, James, 
was a member of the Merchant Taylors' Company of Lon- 
don. At the request of the former librarian of the New 
England Historic-Genealogical Society, the late Mr. John 
Ward Dean, the officers of the Merchant Taylors' Com- 
pany, in 1889, made a thorough search of the records, for 
evidence that Sydrach Williams was engaged in the Orien- 
tal trade. This search was rewarded; in August, 1889, 
the reply was returned that Sydrach Williams was a mer- 
chant to Turkey, for "on March 6, 1626 he took as an ap- 
prentice one Robert Williams, (son of Jacobi Williams, 
citizen and merchant taylor) and he is described on the 
apprentice book, vol. IX, p. 233, as a merchant to Turkey 
and Italy."* Thus the evidence is cumulative, that the 

*The quotation is from an unpublished letter of the secretary of the 
Merchant Tailors' Company to Mr. Dean. 



A Political Pioneer 11 

mystery which so long surrounded the parentage of Roger 
Williams has, at last, been fully solved and historian and 
biographer of the present day are fully justified in writing 
him as the son of James Williams of London, and of Alice 
his wife. 

Concerning the date of the birth of Roger Williams 
the most recent and most convincing discussion is by 
Mr. Almon D. Hodges, jr.^ In a careful and exhaust- 
ive manner Mr. Hodges has examined all of the records 
bearing, in any manner, upon this point, and in his con- 
elusions has brought this question as near to a settlement 
as is possible with the data yet discovered. Quoting a 
record found among the archives of the Rhode Island 
Historical Society, in which Williams, under date of July 
24, 1679 writes himself as *' being now neere to foure score 
years of age," he compares this with his statement con- 
cerning his age, in a letter addressed to John Winthrop in 
1632.^ In this letter he describes himself as "neerer up- 
wards of 30 then 25. " This somewhat obscure expression 
Mr. Hodges interprets as meaning that his age was, at 
the time of writing, nearer to 30 than to 25, "or that he 
was over 27J years old, and hence born not later than 
April, 1605." 

In a still closer reasoning, and a comparison of the 
records concerning his education, Mr. Hodges finds it 
probable that the exact date was even earlier than this, 
and that he was born in, or very near to, the year 1604. 
The reasoning is lucid; and it is not impossible that we 
of to-day, accepting this computation as accurate, know 
the date of the birth of Roger Williams quite as accurately 
as he did himself. Not only are both of these references 

^N.E. Historical <f? Genealogical Register, January, 1899. p.60 et seq, 
^Jnfra, p.4l 



12 Roger Williams 

to his age, made by Williams, devoid of accuracy and ob- 
scure in expression, but the record of the births of the 
six children of Williams are equally inexact. These 
records, being found together upon one page of the 
earliest book of Providence records extant, were prob- 
ably made by the town clerk all at one time and, no 
doubt, from information furnished by Williams. In the 
original book these records are written upon a page di- 
rectly following the record of an instrument, which bears 
date of October 12, 1663. They could not have been 
made, therefore, earlier than that date. Since the birth 
of the youngest of the Williams children is recorded as 
having occured in 1643, it is evident that these birth rec- 
ords were not written until the youngest child was twen- 
ty years of age; and the oldest, born in 1663, was fully 
thirty years old, when the record was made. It is notice- 
able that the date of the birth of none of these six children 
is recorded with exactness.^ It is perhaps not unfair to 
argue that Roger Williams had so little regard for gen- 
ealogical exactness that when he caused the date of 
the births of his children to be entered in the public rec- 
ords, he found himself unable to give the necessary in- 
formation with accuracy. With this thought in mind, 
it does not seem a violent assumption, that the vagueness 
of Williams' own records regarding his age was occa- 
sioned chiefly by his own ignorance of the exact date of 
his birth. 

Of his education the record is meagre. Upon the back 
of one of a series of letters,'^ written by Roger Williams 
to Mrs. Anne Sadlier, the daughter of Sir Edward Coke, 



^Infra, p. 

'^Infra, p. a seq. 



A Political Pioneer 13 

in 1652, is found a memorandum written by her hand. 
It is worthy of quotation here: — 

"This Roger Williams, when he was a youth, would, in a short- 
hand, take sermons and speeches in the Star Chamber and pre- 
sent them to my dear father. He seeing so hopeful a youth, 
took such a liking to him that he sent him to Sutton's Hospital, 
and he was the second that was placed there; full little did he 
think that he would have proved such a rebel to God, the King 
and his country; I leave his letters that, if ever he has the face 
to return into his native country, Tyburn may give him wel- 
come." 

The records of the Charter House, London, of which 
the school known as Sutton's Hospital forms a part, con- 
firm this fugitive record and we find that Roger Williams 
was admitted a pensioner in that institution, June 25, 1621, 
and that he obtained an exhibition, July 9, 1624. There 
has been some variation of statement, regarding the place 
of his higher education. He has been said to have been 
identical with a student matriculated at Jesus College, 
Oxford, April 30, 1624, under the name of Rodericus 
Williams. It seems probable that this identification was 
made for want of a better, at that time; for, surely, the 
Latinized form of the name Roger is not Rodericus, but 
Rogerus. Indeed, in a volume of the alumni of Oxford, 
printed in English, this student's name appears as Rod- 
erick. More recent and careful researches have estab- 
lished, beyond a reasonable doubt, that he was matricu- 
lated at Pembroke College, Cambridge, as a pensioner, 
June 29, 1623, and that he was graduated with the de- 
gree of Bachelor of Arts in 1626-7. For the establish- 
ment of this important fact credit must again be given to 
the late Mr. John Ward Dean. Replying to a letter 
addressed by him to the Rev. C. E. Searle, D. D., 



14 Roger Williams 

Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge, that gentleman 
wrote thus : — 

"After a long delay, for which I must apologize, though I had 
good reasons for it, I have inspected the signatures of the stu- 
dents who obtained the B. A. degree from Pembroke, in 1626- 
1627, by the kind permission of Dr. Luard, the university regis- 
trary. I compared Roger Williams' signature with the tracing 
you sent me of some undoubted writing of Roger Williams, the 
founder of Rhode Island, and there is no doubt a striking resem- 
blance between this man's and the Pembroke bachelor's. The 
Registrary afterwards sent me three tracings of the name, as it 
stands in the register of the University; the first was done by 
Dr. Luard, himself, the other two by his clerk, and so you can 
judge of the resemblance yourself. 
Pembroke College Lodge, 
Cambridge, April 1, 1890." 

A comparison of the tracings of the signature of Roger 
Williams, as it appears upon the books of Pembroke 
College, sent by Master Searle, with the signature of the 
founder of Providence, as it appears upon a lithographed 
facsimile of the "Compact of the Twenty-five Purchasers," 
shows a striking similarity, although the space of twenty- 
one years intervened between the execution of the two 
signatures. 

This similarity of handwriting, and the coincidence of 
the dates, taken in conjunction with the fact that Pem- 
broke was the alma mater of his patron. Sir Edward 
Coke, lead one irresistibly to the conclusion that at Pem- 
broke College, Cambridge, Roger Williams completed 
his education and received his bachelor's degree. It is, 
without doubt, true that after graduation he prepared 
himself, at once, for the church and was admitted to holy 
orders about the year 1628. Two letters originally the 




<J 

o- 
in 

w c 

=^ '5 

o o 

ai c 

^ s 

a o 



w 2 

-^ Oh 



/ 



A Political Pioneer 15 

property of the family of George Alan Lowndes, Esquire, 
of Barrington Hall, Hatfield, Broad Oak, England, and 
now in the British Museum, are full of interest, at this 
point in the narrative. The first of these is undated. 
The second, written, beyond doubt, soon after the first, 
bears date of May 2, 1629.* In transmitting copies of 
these letters to the New England Historic- Genealogical 
Society, Mr. Lowndes says: — 

" I have had great pleasure in complying with your re- 
quest. I have compared the writing of Roger Williams 
with the copy you sent, and also shown them to an ex- 
pert, who agrees with me that they are identical. 

"I enclose you copies of the letters. Mr. Williams at 
the time of writing them was chaplain to Sir William 
Masham, of Otes, in the parish of High Laver, Essex, 
(where the second letter is dated from). Sir William 
was the ancestor of Mrs. Masham's husband, who played 
such a prominent part in the reign of our Queen Anne. 
Locke, the philosopher, died at Otes, and is buried in 
High Laver churchyard. I think it very doubtful whether 
Williams ever held church preferment in this country 
(although he mentions in his letter to Lady Barrington 
that he had had the offer of two livings). Probably his 
disappointment in love was one of the causes of his 
emigration. 

"There is no doubt he proposed to a niece of Lady Bar- 
ington, as suggested by his first (undated) letter, and 
the refusal brought the second, which very much offend- 
ed Lady Barrington.'* 

The two letters are of such interest as to give warrant 
for their insertion here: 



^New England Historical and Genealogical Register, July, 1889, 
pp. 316-320. 



16 Roger Williams 

I 

Roger Williams to Lady Barrington. 

To his honourable good ladie Ye Lady Barrington at 
Hatfield Priorie, these 
Madam: — 

Your Laddiship may wonder at this unwonted absence & 
also aske what meanes this paper deputie! Give me leaue 
(deare Madam) to say with David, to his brothers in ye field: is 
there not a cause ? A just happily a knowne & open cause, I 
am sure to yor Ladysh (who as an Angell of God discerneth 
wisely) a known & open cause. 

Many & often speeches haue long fluttered or floune abroad 
concerning your Ladiships neere kinswoman & my unworthy 
selfe. What little care I haue given that may (further than I 
haue barkened after your Ladiship's mind) all that know me 
here doe know. Yet like a rowling snow-ball or some flouing 
streame ye report extends & gathers stronger & stronger which 
causes me this day to stand behind the Hangings & will not be 
seen any way countenancing so great a busines wch happily 
may want strength to bring it forth to see the light. It is ye 
command of ye God of wisdome by yt wise King Salomon Es- 
tablish thy thoughts by councell. I presume therefore to con- 
sult (as most of right I acknowledge I ought) with ye soonest 
with yr Ladiship, especially considering her loving & strong 
affection together with ye report as story abroad. 

Good Madame may it please you then to take notice. I 
acknowledge my selfe altogeather unworthy & unmeete for 
p such a proposition. The neerenes of her blood to yr Ladiship & 
godly flourishing branches hath forc't me to confesse her Por- 
tion, in yt regard, to be beyond compare invaluable. Yet many 
feares have much possest me Longe I have to discover yt sin- 
ceritie & Godlines which makes ye Lord himself to like his 
Creature & must make me if ever I have receiued some good 
Testimonialls from mine own experience more from others not 
the least from yor good Ladiships selfe. Objections have come 
in about her spirit, much accused for passionate & hastie, rash 



A Political Pioneer 17 

& unconstant, other fears about her present condition it being 
some Indecorum for her to condescend to my low Ebb there I 
somewhat stick: but were all this cleared, there is one barr not 
likely to be broken & yt is the present Estate of us both. That 
portion it hath pleased God to allot her (as I heare) is not for 
present & happily as things stand now in England shall never 
be by us enjoyed. For my own part It is well knoune (though I 
would gladly conseal myselfe) Now a gracious God & tender 
conscience (as Balak said to Balaam) hath kept me back from 
honour and preferment Besides many former offers & yt late 
New England call, I have since had 2 severall livings proferred 
to me each of them 100<£ per annum; but as things yet stand 
among us I see not how any meanes & I shall meet yt way. 
Nor doe I seeke nor shall I be draune on any tearmes to part 
(even to my last parting) from Otes so long as any competencie 
can be raised or libertie affoorded. I shall impart the utmost 
to your Ladiship (more punctually than ever yet to any) : beside 
this meanes I now from hence enjoy little there is yet I can call 
mine. After the death of an aged loving mother amongst some 
other Children I may expect (though for the present she be close 

& will not promise) some 20£ or 20 marks per annum. At 
hand undisposed of I have some 7 score pieces & a little (yet 
costlie) studie of books. Thus possessing all things I have 
nothing yet more than God owes me, or than my blessed Saviour 
had himselfe. 

Poore yet as I am I have some few offers at present one 
put into my hand, person & present portion worthy. Yet 
stand they still at dore & shall until the fairest end ye Lord 
shall please to give to this shall come to light. I have been told 
to open to your Ladiship the whole Anatomic of this business. 
To wrong your precious name and answer her kind love with 
want would be like gall to all the honey of my life, and marr 
my marriage joys. The kind affection of your deare Ladiship 
& worthy neice is of better merit and desert. I shall add for 
the present I know none in the world I more affect & (had ye 
Lord been pleased to say amen to those other regards) should 
doubtles haue answered (if not exceeded) her affection. 



18 Roger Williams 

But I have learned another Lesson to still my soule as a weaned 
childe & give offence to none. I have learn'd to keepe my 
studie and pray to ye God of heaven (as oft I doe pray) for the 
everlasting peace and well fare of your kind Ladiship, whose 
soule & comfort is in ye number of my greatist cares. The 
Lord that hath caried you from the wombe to gray haires crown 
those gray haires by making your last dayes (like ye close of 
some sweet harmonic) your rest fruitfull (like Sarah) in old age: 
out shining all those starrs yt shine about you: going downe in 
Peace, rising in Glory in the armes of yor dearest Saviour. To 
wch everlasting armes he often commits your Soule & yours, 
who is 

Ye unworthiest (though faithfull) of all yt truely serve & 
honour you, 

Roger Williams. 



II 



Roger Williams to Lady Harrington. 

To his honorable good 

Lady ye Lady Harrington 
at Hatfield 

these 

Madame:— Otes May 2d 1629 

I am forc't (with ye Seaman) for want of a full gale to make 
use of a side wind & salute your Ladiship by another, being 
for a time shut out myselfe I doubt not but your good wisdome 
& loue haue fairely interpreted my carriage in ye late treatie, 
& I allso trust, quieted & still'd the loving affections of your 
worthy neice. We hope to live together in the heavens though 
ye Lord have denied that union on Earth. Dear Madame. 
Let me beg your christian Pardon if I shall acquaint your Ladi- 
ship with a busines of more waight & consequence & much 
neerer concerning yourselfe. I beseech you to reade no further 
before you resolve to pardon & take with the right hand of love, 
from the Lord himselfe, a message sent by me, his unworthy 



A Political Pioneer 19 

Servant. A better hand might pen it, A better heart more 
tender of your peace & everlasting good, none yt know you (if 
I can) shall carrie toward you. 

What I shall now expresse to your Ladiship hath long lyen 
like fire in my bones Jer 20:9. I said I should not make mention 
of his name in this kind to you but his word was in my heart as 
A burning fire shut up in my bones & I was weary with for- 
bearing & I could not stay. 

r~Good Madam it is not for nothing, yt ye God of Heaven hath 
sent such thunderclaps of late and made such great offers at 
the dore of your Ladiships heart. Distractions about children 
& their afflictions; deprivall of a deare and tender yoake fellow 
weaknesses of the outward & troubles in the inward man, what 
are they but loud alarums to awake you .'' 

The father of lights be pleased to show you the interpretations 
of these dreams, certainly (Madam) ye Lord hath a quarrel! 
against you. Woe unto me if I hold my peace & hide yt from 
you, which may seem bitter at present, it may be sweeter than 
hony at the latter end. Incouragement to be naked & plaine 
your Ladiship was pleased to give me at Otes. If ever (deare 
Madame) when there is but the breadth of a few gray haires 
betwene you & your everlasting home let me deale uprightly 
with you. 

I know not one professor amongst all I know whose truth and 
faythfuUness to Jesus Christ is more suspected, doubted, feared, 
by all or most of those yt know the Lord. 

Woe is me if I shall conceal what great thoughts of heart the 
Lord suffers yet to be & breake forth in his dearest Saincts about 
you. And yet no hand in this is with me, The God of Heaven 
& your deare Selfe only know thoses secret lines. It hath almost 
astonisht me ( & I trust will deeply affect your Ladiship) yt not 
only inferiour Christians but ministers, eagle eyed, faithful & 
observant to vour Ladiship; after so many yeares of God's pa- 
tience towards you so long profession, such helpes, meanes in- 
comparable should yet be driuen to sigh, to say little, to sus- 
pend their judgments, to hope but feare & doubt. 

I know (deare Madam) your heart is full at these relations I 



so Roger Williams 

beseech you (as David said) on me let your thoughts & the 
burthen fall, but have these sheepe done? when 2 or 3 or few 
are excepted : yt names of so great a number may well be spared. 

Three things especially have I often gathered from them. 
First, feares are yt the world hath choakt those blessed Seeds 
yt have been soune & keepes the fruite from true perfection. 
2ndly a strangenes from the faithful! in spiritual! socitie: This 
is the fayrest evidence of Adoption. If this Pin breakes all 
falls. & 3d a stand or stay in the wayes of holynes young plants 
of yesterday giving fairer testimonies of greater fruitfulnes. 

Deare Madame I beseech you by all those multitudes of 
tender motherly mercies yt are in God & exprest to you: by yt 
inconceavable patience of the Lord toward you: by ye bowells 
and blood of ye Lord Jesus by all thoses sweet cords of love, 
whereby the blessed Spirit of God hath striven you to make a 
stand and spread my letter (as Hezekiah) before ye Lord in secret. 
/" If ever (good Madame) cry hard & ye Lord help me to cry 
for you. Let those 2 peticions Psal. 51. 11 & 71.9 be cleare to 
you. Rememb: I beseech you Revel 2.2.3 ye Church of Ephesus 
was much esteemed by God, for her works, her labour, her 
patience her not bearing with those yt were Evill, for yt she had 
borne, & for his sake laboured, and not fainted & yet angry 
was he & he had something against her: & it was because she 
had left her first love. The Lord established my hope for I 
hope it may be but so with your Ladiship only I beseech you 
to lay to heart these few considerations. 

1. First Job 34.9 (Qu. 19 ?). He with whome we deale excep- 
teth not the persons of princes nor regardeth the rich more than 
the poore for they are all the worcke of his hands. 

2. When birth greater, maintenance, more ample time longer 
and means of grace more plentifull, then a great account of the 
Lord is expected. Luc. 12. 

3. The Lord will doe what he will with his owne. He owes 
you no mercy. 

Exod 33.19. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious 
& I will shew mercy to whom I will show mercy. 

4. Call to mind what a cutt, what a gnawing worme it will be 



A Political Pioneer gl 

(ye Lord forbid it) if ever you cast your eye up toward heaven, 
& see so many branches in the bosome of Christ & yr stock 
rejected. 

5. Slight not I beseech you all these late loud alarums & 
sharp files with which ye Lord hath striven to burnish you 
Ezech 24. 

6. Remember I beseech you your candle is twinkling & 
glasse neare run ye Lord only knows how few minutes are left 
behind. Psal 95. 10. Fourtie years was I grieved, then I 
swore in my wrath they should never enter into my rest. No 
heart but a trembling heart can get assurance ye Lord hath not 
sworne: to yt heart he hath sworne to be gracious. In yt Peti- 
tion my soule follow^s hard after him & still will I wrastle untill 
you say a blessing is come, a blessing of a heart softened & 
trembling of a Soule gasping after Jesus Christ. A blessing 
of Joye refreshing to the faithfuU & to him who is ever. 

Your Ladiships most faythfuil and 
truly ob servant 

Roger Williams 

From this correspondence, the authorship of which no 
one familiar with the writings of Williams will question, 
is drawn corroborative evidence of the identity of the Roger 
Williams of history with Roger, the son of James. The 
attentive reader will note the allusion of the writer of these 
letters, to his aged mother, then living, and will compare 
their date with that of her death, already noted; and he 
will note also that the inheritance of Roger, the son of 
James, by his mother's will did not vary greatly in amount 
from the sum of his expectations as stated in the first of 
these letters. 

But this corroborative evidence is the least interesting 
of the information to be gleaned from these letters. They 
serve to inform us concerning the residence of Williams in 
the year 1629, two years after his graduation from Cam- 



22 Roger Williams 

bridge. It was, undoubtedly, at High Laver, Essex, and not 
far removed from Chelmsford, where lived and preached 
the Rev. Thomas Hooker, in later years the founder of 
the colony at Hartford. That Williams and Hooker were 
neighbors and friends Williams intimates to us, when he 
records a memorable ride, which these two worthies took, 
in company with John Cotton, discoursing and arguing 
by the way, concerning the use of the Book of Common 
Prayer. *' Possibly Master Cotton may call to minde," 
he writes, " that the discusser (riding with himself and one 
other person of precious memory (Master Hooker) to and 
from Sempringham) presented his arguments from Scrip- 
ture, why he durst not join with them in their use of Com- 
mon prayer."^ 

In this connection also, as serving the further to identify 
the Roger Williams of history, with the chaplain at High 
Laver, Essex, is a passage in the Reverend William Hub- 
bard's General History of New England, wherein the 
Ipswich minister says of Roger Williams: 

"In this manner did overheated zeal vent itself in the 
said Mr. Williams, of whom they were wont to say in Es- 
sex, where he lived, that he was divinely mad."^ 

But, more interesting yet than these matters, these let- 
ters disclose to us one of the heretofore hidden chapters in 
the life of Roger Williams. He was now twenty-seven 
years of age, an age at which a man is not apt to make 
hasty decisions in affairs of the heart. The mother-in- 
law of Williams' patron. Lady Joan Barrington, widow 
of Sir Francis Barrington, baronet, who had died a year 

^Roger Williams' The Blaudy Tenant Yet More Bloudy — Publications 
of the Narragansett Club, iv, 65, 

^A General History of New England, by William Hubbard, minister at 
Ipswich, 1680. 



A Political Pioneer ^3 

before, had, as a member of her household, a niece, a cer- 
tain Jane Whalley/ She was a daughter of Richard 
Whalley and a sister of Major General Edward Whalley, 
in later years famous as one of the judges who condemned 
King Charles I to death. Her mother was Frances Crom- 
well, a sister of Lady Barrington and of Robert Cromwell, 
the father of the Lord Protector. Of her brother Edward, 
it will be remembered that he was one of that little company 
of regicides, who succeeded in making their escape to New 
England, from the wrath of Charles II, after the restora- 
tion. The story of Goffe, of his life in seclusion at Bos- 
ton, at New Haven, and, afterwards at Hadley; of his sud- 
den appearance, as of an angel from heaven, to lead the 
surprised colonists to victory, against an attack by hostile 
Indians, and his equally sudden disappearance when 
danger no longer threatened, is one of the most romantic 
in the history of the early days of our country. 

It is not strange that Roger Williams, occupying as he 
did, an honored place in the household of Sir William 
Masham, should have made himself familiar in that of 
the mother of Lady Masham. Neither is it strange that he 
should have looked with pleasure upon the youthful niece 
of that lady, who made her home with her aunt, and should 
have desired to marry her. It woul(f appear, from cer- 
tain passages in these letters, that his affection for her was, 
in some degree, reciprocated. Certain it is that his atten- 
tions to Miss Whalley had been so marked as to cause 
wide-spread comment, so that, at length, he was fain to 
absent himself from Hatfield Priory, and send, in his stead, 
a "paper deputy", in which he laid the whole matter be- 
fore her ladyship. 



^New England Historical and Genealogical Register, January, 1891, 
pp. 70, 71. 



24 Roger Williams 

That he was advised to do so is quite certain. He con- 
fesses to Lady Barrington his love for her niece, and pro- 
ceeds in a business-like manner, to a discussion of her 
qualities and his own. He intimates that some have warned 
him that his sweetheart has a temper of her own; and 
he admits that her rank in life is far above his own. Their 
fortunes, however, he thinks will compare favorably, for 
she has no expectations, by reason, perhaps, of the prior 
claims of her brother Edward. As for himself, he confess- 
es that he has no fortune, beyond his modest expectations 
from his mother, a limited amount of cash in hand, and a 
small library. He has, he declares, declined two church 
livings, each of which yields one hundred pounds yearly, 
because of a "tender conscience"; and he assures her lady- 
ship that he is so entirely suited with his present position 
that nothing would induce him to leave it. 

From the tenor of the second letter, it is evident that Lady 
Barrington's reply to the first was a denial of his suit. 
Perhaps the refusal was a trifle peremptory. The acerb- 
ity of tone of Williams' repl}^ would so indicate, for, in 
no uncertain manner, he predicts for Lady Barrington 
an unhappy hereafter, except she repent. 

It is not difficult to imagine the anger of Lady Bar- 
rington, at the receipt of this epistle; and we may easily 
understand that his usefulness as chaplain to Sir Will- 
iam Masham was brought to a sudden close. In spite 
of his expressed determination to remain at Otes, his 
office was, no doubt declared vacant, and Williams 
was obliged to seek other means of livelihood. He had 
already, as indicated in the first letter, received a "New 
England call, "but to what church is unknown; and the 
sudden change in his fortunes, doubtless, led him to con- 
sider seriously, its acceptance. At this juncture too, he 
attracted the attention of Archbishop Laud, who was 



A Political Pioneer 25 

ever on the alert for active Separatists, and a prison door 
yawned before him. In one of his letters to Mrs. Sad- 
lier, before alluded to, and which will be more particu- 
larly considered later in our study, — occurs this passage: 

My much honored friend, that man of honor and wisdom 
and piety, your dear father [Sir Edward Coke] was often pleased 
to call me his son; and truly it was as bitter as death to me when 
Bishop Laud pursued me out of this land, and my conscience 
was persuaded against the national church and ceremonies and 
bishops, beyond the conscience of your dear father. I say it 
was as bitter as death to me, when I rode Windsorway, to take 
ship at Bristow and saw Stoke House, where the blessed man 
was, and I durst not acquaint him with my conscience and my 
flight.^ 

On his arrival at Boston he was urged to supply the 
place of the Reverend John Wilson, who was about to 
return to England for an extended visit. It has been 
supposed that the congregation of the First Church in 
Boston took advantage of what appeared to be a special 
providence in his coming, to supply their pulpit, in the 
absence of their pastor. From this passage in the first 
of these Barrington letters it would appear probable that 
the church had had correspondence with him in advance 
of his coming, and that this was the "call" to which he 
referred. 

It was in May, 1629, that these events, just narrated, 
occurred. It was, then, about nineteen months later that, 
having made the decision to emigrate to New England, 
Williams set sail from Bristol, in the ship Lyon.^ Nor did 



^The Sadlier Letters— Publications of the Narragansett Club, vi, 239. 

^It must be remembered, that in the XVIIth century, the year was 
reckoned from March 25 and not from January 1, as in these days. 
Hence, February, the month of Williams' arrival, was the eleventh 
month of the year, and February, 1630, would be the twenty-first 
month after May, 1629. The voyage was about two months in dur- 



26 Roger Williams 

he go alone. That he had, in these intervening months, 
succeeded in banishing from his mind his hopeless 
love for Jane Whalley, and in filling her place in his affec- 
tions with another, is evident from the record of Win- 
throp, that his wife accompanied him upon the voyage. 
Who was this lady is not known; and, save that her name 
was Mary, and that she proved to him a true and loyal 
wife, the record is meagre. For many years her maiden 
name was unknown and the genealogist was baffled in 
searching for a clew. In the issue of the New England 
Historical Genealogical Register for January, 1899, Mr. 
Almon D. Hodges, jr., contributes a valuable discovery 
throwing light upon this point. He has found in a letter 
from William Harris to Capt. Deem, November 14, 1666,* 
a reference to a brother of Mrs. Williams, by name War- 
nerd, or Warnard.' It is therefore concluded that this 
was the maiden name of the wife of Williams, but more 
than this we know little. We are sure, however, that 
she was a woman of some decision of character, for, as 
we shall find later, she, upon one occasion at least, re- 
fused to allow her husband to control her conscience, in 
matters of religious observance; and was, as a result, ex- 
cluded from participation in the religious services which 
he set up in his own house. 

It is of interest to follow, for a time, the fortunes of 
Williams' first love, Jane Whalley. It is certain that, 
although the addresses of Roger Williams were rejected, — 
it is to be presumed on account of his poverty, — the young 



ation, as already stated, so that he set sail in the nineteenth month 
after his quarrel with Lady Barrington. 

Published in a pamphlet entitled Some William Harris Memoranda, 
Providence, 1876. 

^Both forms of spelling are found in the letter. 



A Political Pioneer 27 

lady became, afterwards, the wife of a Puritan clergy- 
man, the Reverend William Hooke, a graduate of Oxford 
University. He was vicar of Axmouth, in Devonshire, 
but, eight years after the emigration of Williams, he too 
came with his wife, to New England, and became a pas- 
tor at Taunton, Massachusetts. From 1644 to 1656 he 
was settled at New Haven, Connecticut. Later, he re- 
turned to England and became the private chaplain of 
his wife's cousin-german, Oliver Cromwell, Lord Pro- 
tector of England. 



CHAPTER II 

In February of 1630, then, we find the Reverend Roger 
Williams entering upon a new life. He had reached New 
England, after a tempestuous voyage, in midwinter. It 
would appear, as discussed in the last chapter, that hj had 
not come wholly as an adventurer, seeking new lands and 
new scenes. In addition to the already quoted passage in 
the first letter to Lady Barrington, we know from the writ- 
ings of Williams, years after, that he was called to be the 
teacher at the First Church in Boston, but that he declined, 
as he himself said, in a letter written to John Cotton, the 
younger, under date of March 25, 1671. "Being unani- 
mously chosen teacher at Boston, '* he wrote, " (before 
your dear father came, divers years,) I conscientiously re- 
fused, and withdrew to Plymouth, because I durst not 
oflficiate to an unseparated people, as upon examination 
and conference I found them to be.'*^ 

In this we find renewed indication that Roger Williams 
was imbued with the tenets of the Separatists, or "Brown- 
ists." His advent among the colonists at Boston was hailed 
with pleasure. Their pastor, the Reverend John Wilson 
was about to sail for England, for a visit of some months 
duration, and, indeed, he did actually sail upon the home- 
ward voyage of the same ship which had brought Mr. Will- 
iams. The latter was at once recognized as the natural 
substitute for the furloughed pastor; but a cloud intervened. 

It does not yet appear by what means, and in what man- 
ner Roger Williams became associated with the Separa- 



1 Publications of the Narragansett Club, vi, 356. 



A Political Pioneer 29 

tists and imbued with their doctrines. That his inclina- 
tions were towards Puritanism is readily accounted for in 
his education at Cambridge — the Puritan tendencies of 
which were well known — and in his residence in a section 
of the country thoroughly imbued with that sentiment. 
But that he had adopted the extreme views of the Separa- 
tists, and that he maintained them in America, almost to 
the colony's undoing, is undoubtedly true. 

With this movement for Separation the colonists at Sa- 
lem, led by Endecott, and at Boston under the government 
of Winthrop, had little sympathy. They had not been re- 
quired to steal away from their country by night, as had 
the men and women of Scrooby, a few years before. They 
had gone forth openly, bearing the king's charter, and with 
the avowed purpose of founding a colony upon the Ameri- 
can coast. They were of the Puritan wing; yet it seems re- 
markable, and a matter not easy of explanation, that Roger 
Williams had not, before setting out for America, been 
made aware of the broad religious distinction between the 
colonists of the Bay and their brethren at Plymouth. That 
he was not aware, until he reached Boston, of the fact that 
the colonists there were not Separatists, is made positive 
by the passage from Williams' letter to John Cotton the 
younger, already quoted. Having made this discovery, 
he not only refused, peremptorily, to exercise his gifts 
as a religious teacher in the colony, but he disclosed a dis- 
putatious spirit, an intimation of which we have already 
received in his letter to Lady Barrington, after that lady's 
rejection of his suit for the hand of her niece. Williams 
was now scarcely thirty years of age, while Winthrop, the 
governor of the Colony, was more than a dozen years his 
senior. In experience, also, and as a man of affairs, Win- 
throp was, doubtless, far the superior of Williams. When, 
therefore, this young man and new-comer among them, in 



30 Roger Williams 

appearance, perhaps, scarcely more than a stripling, as- 
sumed the position of a mentor, and severely scored Win- 
throp and his people, because they differed with him in 
methods of polity, it is little wonder if he was regarded 
with amazement. 

Williams demanded, first of all, that the members of the 
Boston church should publicly express their repentance, 
for the sin of having communed with the Church of Eng- 
land, during their residence there. Next, he claimed that 
the magistrates had no right to punish infractions of the 
first table of the Decalogue. Inasmuch as the first table 
was then understood to forbid idolatry, blasphemy and 
Sabbath breaking, it cannot be wondered that these opin- 
ions were not graciously received.^ Indeed, to this day, 
profane swearing and ordinary labor upon the Lord's Day 
are forbidden by law in Massachusetts. 

Williams' stay in Boston was short. There is some evi- 
dence that he received an intimation that his teachings 
would be acceptable to the church at Salem. Whether, 
indeed, he did, for a time, serve that church as teacher, in 
a desultory manner, is itself quite uncertain, although it is 
not improbable that he did so. 

"Unfortunately, however, the first book of records of the First 
Church in Salem is not in existence. When John Higginson 
became the minister, in 1660, a committee was chosen to revise 
the record-book of the church, which, it was asserted, was old, 
worn, and, moreover, contained much matter whose preserva- 
tion was scarcely to be desired. The committee was to make 
copies of such parts as needed to be preserved, after which the 
old book was to be put away from common use, and possibly 
the design was to put it beyond all future use. At any rate it 
disappeared and its fate is not known. What was supposed to 
be of permanent value was copied into a new book of records 



^Mather's Magnalia Chridi Americana, Hartford Ed. 1883, ii, 495. 



A Political Pioneer SI 

then begun. The probability is that just what made the minister 
and members of 1660 desirous to have the old book suppressed 
as discreditable was, in large part, the Roger Williams contro- 
versy."^ 

It is certain, then, that the records of the church at 
Salem, to-day, contain little or no allusion to Williams. 
That it was proposed to employ Williams as a teacher in 
Salem, almost immediately after his attack upon the Bos- 
ton church is made certain from a record made by Gov- 
ernor Winthrop on the twelfth of April, 1631.^ 

At a court holden at Boston (upon information to the Gover- 
nour that they of Salem had called Mr. Williams to the office of 
teacher) a letter was written from the court to Mr. Ende- 
cott to this effect, that whereas Mr. Williams had refused to 
join with the congregation at Boston, because they would not 
make a public declaration of their repentance for having com- 
munion with the churches of England while they lived there; 
and besides had declared his opinion that the magistrates might 
not punish the breach of the Sabbath, nor any other offence, 
as it was a breach of the first table, therefore they marvelled 
they would choose him without advising with the council; and 
withal desiring him that they would forbear to proceed till they 
had conferred about it. 

We find, then, that, within two months after his arrival 
in New England, Roger Williams had already met with 
disaster in his relations with the colonists at Boston, and 
had received a call from the church at Salem, to the of- 
fice of teacher. The Reverend Samuel Skelton, at that 
time the pastor of the church at Salem, was in declining 
health. The position of teacher did not, probably carry 



*The quotation is from a letter addressed to the author, by the Rev. 
E. B. Willson, minister of the First Church in Salem, and President of 
the Essex Institute, dated August 2, 1894. 

^Winthrop's History of New England, i, 63. 



32 Roger Williams 

with it the duties and dignities of a full pastorate, save 
in the absence of the pastor. Yet it was a position of 
great importance and honor in the Colony, and very near- 
ly corresponded to that of assistant pastor. It is not im- 
possible that the call from the Salem church may have 
been extended to him while he was yet in England, and 
that this was the " New England call " to which he alludes 
in his letter to Lady Barrington. This, however, seems 
scarcely probable, from the fact that he, upon his arrival 
at Boston, appears to have entertained the proposition 
to serve the church in that town, until he discovered that 
he could not agree with them in points of doctrine. But, 
in view of the loss of the early records of the Salem church, 
this must remain a conjecture. Hubbard, in his allu- 
sions to Williams, records that *' immediately after his 
arrival he was called by the church at Salem to join with 
Mr. Skelton;"* but Williams himself, in his letter to the 
younger Cotton, already alluded to, makes no mention 
of the Salem call, but says that, being unable to agree 
with the brethren at Boston, he "withdrew and went to 
Plymouth." 

At first thought it may not be apparent why Mr. Will- 
iams is not recorded as unwilling to minister to the people, 
as well of Salem as of Boston. But it must be remem- 
bered that the non-conformity of the Puritan settlers dif- 
fered in degree. The ministers of the early colonists 
were all clergymen of the Church of England, as, indeed, 
was Roger Williams himself, as we have already learned. 
The churches of Salem and Dorchester were peculiar, in 
that they disregarded an Episcopal ordination as a quali- 
fication for the pastoral oflBce, among themselves, and, 
adopting the Congregational mode, required a new or- 



^Hubbard, ii, 203. 



A Political Pioneer 33 

dination. The ordinations of Samuel Skelton and Fran- 
cis Higginson were performed by committees chosen by 
the congregation, thus ignoring their Episcopal ordina- 
tion. At Salem an incident occurred, which shows the 
intensity of the Separatist feeling. Two brothers, John 
and Samuel Browne, did not approve of this action to- 
wards the English church, and, with a few others, who 
were like-minded, preferred to worship by themselves, 
making use of the Book of Common Prayer. There was 
no charge against these two men, that they were not good 
neighbors and otherwise excellent citizens; but their 
conduct in this matter was regarded as subversive of good 
order, and they were sent back to England. 

When, on the other hand, John Wilson was chosen 
pastor of the church at Charlestown, — afterwards at Bos- 
ton, — although he was installed in his office by the im- 
position of hands, this ceremony was held, as Winthrop 
is careful to explain, "with this protestation by all, that 
it was only a sign of election and confirmation, not of any 
intent that Mr. Wilson should renounce his ministry he 
received in England."^ When we add to these circum- 
stances the fact that the organizers of the church at Sa- 
lem sought counsel of their Plymouth brethren, we are 
not at loss to understand why Williams looked towards 
Salem with an approving eye, while he declined to affil- 
iate with the church at Boston. 

The plan of a settlement at Salem having come to 
naught Mr. Williams removed to Plymouth, a colony 
then under a government of its own, and not subject to 
the authorities of Massachusetts Bay. Here he remained 
about the space of two years, was admitted a member 
of the church, and served the people and the church in 



'John Winthrop's History of New England. 



34} Roger Williams 

the capacity of teacher, and as an assistant to the pastor, 
the Reverend Ralph Smith. He felt no conscientious 
scruples against ministering to these people, for as has 
already been said, they were in full accord and sympathy 
with the doctrines and ideas of the Separatists. He was 
welcomed heartily by the magistrates and the people, 
and, as Governor Bradford records, "he was friendly en- 
tertained, according to their poore abilitie, and exercised 
his gifts among them, and after some time was admitted 
a member of ye church."' 

The record of his life, from day to day, among the Pil- 
grims is meagre. We have a delightful glimpse of it, 
however, in Governor Winthrop's account of a visit of a 
week at Plymouth, in return of a similar visit paid by 
Governor Bradford at Boston. The good ship Lyon, 
which, as we have seen, brought Roger Williams to New 
England, in 1630, set sail from England, upon her next 
voyage, in August of the next year. She had, among her 
passengers, John Eliot, who became the apostle to the 
Indians, and Margaret, the wife of John Winthrop. The 
joy of the governor when, in November, the ship arrived, 
was fully shared by the colonists. As the governor him- 
self records, "at their landing, the captains with their 
companies in arms, entertained them with a guard, and 
divers vollies of shot and three drakes; and divers of the 
assistants and most of the people of the plantations came 
to welcome them, and brought and sent for divers days, 
great store of provisions, as fat hogs, kids, venison, poul- 
try, geese, partriges, etc. so as the like joy and manifes- 
tation of love had never been seen in New England.'*^ 
The occasion was celebrated by a day of thanksgiving, 

'Governor Bradford's History of Plimouth Plantation, Commonwealth 
ed. p. 369. 
^Winthrop, i, p. 84, 



A Political Pioneer 35 

and, the good news having reached Plymouth, Governor 
Bradford hurried to the Bay, to add his congratulations 
to those of the Bay brethren. 

About a year later, in October, 1632,, the Lyon again 
lay at anchor in the harbor of Boston, and Governor 
Winthrop determined to return the friendly visit of his 
friend Bradford. Accordingly, on the twenty-fifth of 
that month, he invited the Reverend John Wilson to ac- 
company him, and the two went on board the Lyon. 
Having expressed their wishes to the master of the ves- 
sel, Mr. Peirce, the latter took them on board his shallop 
and conveyed them on their journey as far as Wessagus- 
set, now called Weymouth. Here he left them and re- 
turned to his ship which, two days later set sail, with a 
north-westerly wind, bound for Virginia. It was her last 
voyage, for, six days after, the good ship Lyon was 
wrecked on the Virginia coast; and it may be that, even 
to-day, her bones lie hidden in the sands of Cape 
Charles.* 

Winthrop and Wilson, upon landing at Wessagusset, 
started off bravely on foot through the forest, under the 
guidance of one Luddam, following, no doubt, an Indian 
trail, the trace of whi*ch is still visible, in the direction 
of Plymouth. The settlement was about twenty-five 
miles distant, and the road was none of* the smooth- 
est; and yet it was in the beautiful Indian summer 
time, that they thus journeyed, when the woods were 
blue with asters, when the sunflower reflected its golden 
petals in the brooks and, in the swamps, blazed the 
cardinal flower. It was, no doubt, one of those soft, 
mild days, one of those perfect days, that come often to 
New England, in the late autumnal time. The long 



^Winthrop, 1, 101. 



36 Roger Williams 

walk, through the sweet woods and brilliant fields must 
have been well enjoyed by the two devout men, and one 
can readily imagine of what they talked, as they jour- 
neyed on together. 

Just as night began to fall around them, and as the 
frog began his guttural serenade in the marshes, and the 
tree-toad began to sing his merry monotone, they saw, 
glimmering through the trees, the welcome lights of the 
homes of Plymouth. They were not unexpected guests, 
for the colonists were watching for their approach and, 
as they emerged from the shadow of the woods, a party, 
with two men of unusual dignity of bearing at its head, 
advanced to meet the travellers. Let Governor Win- 
throp tell the story, himself, in his own quaint language. 

The governour of Plimouth, Mr. William Bradford, (a very 
discreet and grave man), with Mr. Brewster, the elder, and 
some others, came forth and met them without the town and 
conducted them to the governour's house, where they were very 
kindly entertained, and feasted every day at several houses.* 

The story which Winthrop tells us of the manner in 
which the Sunday of his visit was spent, gives us the only 
view which we have of the life of Roger Williams among 
these people. Let us continue the narrative in Win- 
throp *s own words: 

On the Lord's day there was a sacrament which they did 
partake in; and in the afternoon, Mr. Roger Williams (accord- 
ing to their custom) propounded a question, to which the pastor, 
Mr. Smith, spake briefly; then Mr. Williams prophesied; and 
after the governour of Plimouth spake to the question; after 
him the elder; then some two or three of the congregation. 
Then the elder desired the governour of Massachusetts and Mr. 
Wilson to speak to it, which they did. When this was ended, 
the deacon, Mr. Fuller, put the congregation in mind of their 

^Winthrop, i, 109. 



A Political Pioneer 37 

duty of contribution; whereupon the governour and all the rest 
went down to the decon's seat and put into the box and then 
returned.* 

The story of the return of Governor Winthrop and 
Mr. Wilson to Boston, at the close of their visit at Ply- 
mouth, is of interest, as quaintly recorded by the Gover- 
nor. Thus he writes: 

Wednesday, about 5 in the morning the governour and Mr. 
Wilson came out of Plymouth; the governour of Plymouth, with 
the pastor and elders, etc. accompanied them near half a mile 
out of town in the dark. The Lieut. Holmes with two others 
and the governour's mare came along with them to the great 
swamp about 10 miles; when they came to the great river they 
were carried over by one Luddam their guide, as they had been 
when they came, the stream being very strong and up to the 
crotch. So the governour called that passage Luddam's Ford. 
Thence they came to a place called Hue's Cross. The gover- 
nour being displeased at that name, in respect that such things 
might hereafter give the Papists occasion to say that their re- 
ligion was first planted in these parts, changed the name and 
called it Hue's Folly. So they came, that evening to Wessa- 
guscus, where they were bountifully entertained as before with 
stores of turkeys, geese, ducks, etc., and the next day came 
safe to Boston.^ 

For two years, then, Roger Williams lived among the 
people of Plymouth and went in and out among them, ex- 
ercising|his gift of "prophesy," or, as we of to-day say, of 
exhortation and instruction. But, as we have already seen 
in his correspondence with Lady Barrington, and as we 
shall see most abundantly, in the days to come, Mr. Will- 
iams was of an exceedingly disputatious temper, was fond 
of argument, and more than these, was disposed to form 
unique opinions, and entertain erratic notions, and had 



» Winthrop, i, 110. 
^Ibid. 



38 Roger Williams 

scant feeling of charity for those who ventured to differ 
with him. This disputatious temperament is well shown 
in a matter of controversy, which, for a time, had been 
warmly discussed in Plymouth and which was brought up 
anew during Winthrop's visit, that his opinion might be 
obtained upon the matter at issue. The common habit 
of the day was to address men who were in ordinary walks 
of life, by the term "Goodman." Williams contended 
that such an appellation was blasphemous, inasmuch as 
the Saviour is recorded as having said: "Why callest thou 
me good; there is none good but one, that is God." Cer- 
tain of the leading men of the colony took issue with Will- 
iams, while others, as is natural, accepted his view. A 
controversy arose upon this trivial matter, and waxed so 
earnest that the entire people of the settlement were arrayed 
one against another in dispute. The coming of Winthrop 
and Wilson was hailed with pleasure, and the question was 
submitted to them as arbitrators. Winthrop, after due 
consideration, gave answer that the expression criticised 
seemed to him to be a mere conventionality, and he quoted 
the formula of the sheriff, in summoning a jury of "good 
men and true,'* which in the manner is understood to re- 
fer to the moral qualities of the persons selected as jurors. 
He suggested that the use of the terms "Goodman" and 
"Good wife" were merely ancient customs and without 
theological import, and that the matter was scarcely worthy 
of serious dispute. 

Happily, these well considered words of Winthrop served 
to allay the controversy. But this was only one of the 
many matters which Williams, during his life in Plymouth, 
made to serve as bones of contention. He was unable to 
bring all, or even the major part of the colonists to his stand- 
ard, in matters of little or great import. The dignified 
and scholarly Bradford was an especial object of his attacks 



A Political Pioneer 39 

and him he did not hesitate, at times, sharply to rebuke, 
not, probably, concerning matters of personal conduct, 
but in points of theology wherein they diflFered. 

In the second year of his stay with them, these contro- 
versies, precipitated by Williams, began to be more fre- 
quent, and to increase in acrimony, and at length ripened 
into a desire, upon his part, to seek a new field and new as- 
sociates. Accordingly, he left Plymouth and the brethren 
there and, accompanied by a handful of adherents, bent 
his steps toward the plantation at Salem, where once al- 
ready he had been summoned as a teacher. 

The residence of Mr. Williams and his wife at Plymouth 
was made happy, and, to them, memorable* for here, early 
in August, 1633, their first child was born to them, and was 
given the name of her mother, Mary. 

And so his two years of life in the Old Colony came to 
a close, and he parted from his brethren there, not in anger; 
and yet, he had not gained among them a reputation for 
largeness of vision, for Bradford makes this record : 

Mr. Roger Williams (a man godly and zealous, having many 
precious parts, but very unsettled in judgemente) came over 
first to ye Massachusets, but upon some discontente left yt place 
and came hither, (wher he was friendly entertained, according 
to their poor abilitie) and so exercised his gifts amongst them 
& after some time was admitted a member of ye church; and 
his teaching well approved, for ye benefite wherof I still blese 
God, and am thankfuU to him, even for his sharpest admonitions 
and reproofs, so farr as they agreed with truth. He this year 
begane to fall into some Strang oppinions and from opinion to 
practise; which caused some controversie betweene ye church 
& him, and in ye end some discontente on his parte, by occasion 
wherof he left them something abruptly, yet afterwards sued 
for his dismission to ye church of Salem, which was granted, 
with some caution to them concerning him, and what care they 
ought to have of him. But he soone fell into more things ther. 



40 Roger Williams 

both to their and ye governments troble and disturbance. I 
shall not need to name perticulers, they are too well knowen 
now to all, though for a time ye church here wente under some 
hard censure by his occasion, from some that afterwards smarted 
themselves. But he is to be pitied and prayed for, and so I 
shall leave ye matter, and desire ye Lord to shew him his cross, 
and reduce him into ye way of truth, and give him setled 
judgment and constenicie in ye same: for I hope he belongs to 
ye Lord; and yt he will shew him mercy.* 

We have but slight evidence that Winthrop and Williams 
had met in England, before the coming of either to this 
country. That the latter v^ras known to Winthrop, at least 
by reputation, before his arrival at Boston, may be inferred 
from the governor's record of the arrival of Williams, and 
his characterization of him as "a godley minister." But, 
throughout the career of Williams in this country, both in 
the Bay Colony and in the Providence Plantations, we 
have undoubted evidence that Winthrop, although he sel- 
dom agreed with him in matters controversial, held the 
other in esteem and affection. The earliest letter of Roger 
Williams extant — save the two already shown — is addressed 
to John Winthrop, and was written at Plymouth, prob- 
ably in the year 1632. It is written in the same obscure 
terms, which characterize the letters addressed to Lady 
Barrington, which feature marks, indeed, a peculiarity of 
Williams's epistolary style. It is evident, from this letter, 
that the writer had previously received one or more let- 
ters of friendly import from Winthrop, in which letters 
acknowledgment had been made of some kindly offices 
proffered by the Plymouth brethren. It would also ap- 
pear that Williams had been consulted by Winthrop re- 
garding some details of ecclesiastical or political practice. 
It would seem, also, that Winthrop had offered to under- 



'Bradford, Commonwealth, ed. p. 369. 



A Political Pioneer 41 

take the importation of some cattle for Williams, or 
perhaps for the Plymouth colonists, who, at this time, 
were communists.. The letter, in a remarkable degree 
breathes the spirit of friendliness and good will. 

Roger Williams to John Winthrop. 
For the right worshtpful John Winthrop, Esq., 

Governor of the English in the Massachusetts. 

Plymouth [1632] 
Much honored and beloved in Christ Jesu«j — 

Your Christian acceptance of our cup of cold water is a blessed 
cup of wine, strong and pleasant to our wearied spirits. Only 
let me crave a word of explanation; among other pleas for a 
young councellor (which I fear will be too light in the balance 
of the Holy One) you argue from twenty five In a church elder; 
'tis a riddle as yet to me whether you mean an elder In these 
New English churches or, (which I believe not) old English — 
disorderly functions, from whence our Jehova of armies more 
and more redeemed his Israel — or the Levites who served from 
twenty five to fifty. Numb. 8, 24; or myself but a child in every- 
thing, (though in Christ called, and persecuted even and out 
of my father's house these 20 years) I am no elder in any church, 
no more nor so much as your worthy self, nor ever shall be, if 
the Lord please to grant my desires that I may intent what I 
long after, the natives' souls, and yet if I at present were I should 
be in the days of my vanity nearer upwards of 30 than 25; or 
whether Timothy or Titus be in thought, &c., at your leisure 
I crave interpretation. Sorry I am since Rationals so much 
circumround and trouble you, that bestiale quid (and mine es- 
pecially) should come near you; but since the Lord of Heaven 
is Lord of Earth also, and you follow him as a dear child, I 
thankfully acknowledge your care and love about the cattle 
and further entreat if you may (as you give me encouragement) 
procm-e the whole of that second and let me know how, and 
how much payment will be here accepted, or in money in Eng- 
land. The Lord Jesus be with your spirit and your dearest 



42 Roger Williams 

one and mine in their extremities. To you both and all the 
Saints our due remembrances. 

Yours in unfeigned and brotherly affection, 

Roger Williams. 

The brethren salute you. You lately sent music to our ears 
when we heard you persuaded (and that effectually and success 
fully) our beloved Mr. No well to surrender up one sword; and 
that you were preparing to seek the Lord further; a duty not so 
frequent with Plymouth £3 formerly; but s'pero meliora. 

Mr. Williams himself makes a brief record of his life 
in Plymouth, in his letter to John Cotton, the younger, 
already quoted.* From this we learn that, although 
studious and thoughtful, ready with tongue and pen, he 
was mindful of the temporal affairs of life, and did not 
hesitate to perform his allotted share of the work of the 
field. 

"At Plymouth," he wrote. "I spake on the Lord's days 
and week days and wrought hard at the hoe for my bread 
(and so afterward at Salem), until I found them both 
professing to be a separated people in New England 
(not admitting the most godly to communion without a 
covenant) and yet communicating with the parishes in 
Old by their members repairing on frequent occasions 
thither."* 



»Proc. Mass. Hist. Soc., 1855-1858,315; Pub. Nar. Club, vi, 356. 



CHAPTER III 

The removal of Williams from Plymouth to Salem, 
an event which occurred probably in the autumn of the 
year 1633, was, in reality, the beginning of his career in 
the Colony of Massachusetts Bay. It is probable that 
his first stay in Boston, and in Salem — if, indeed, he did 
really go to Salem before his withdrawal to Plymouth — 
did not cover more than four or five months of time. 
At Plymouth he was without the jurisdiction of the 
magistrates of the Bay; and, indeed, they were in no man- 
ner brought into controversy with him, during his stay 
there, save as has already been recorded. His arrival at 
Salem, however, was followed by a series of disputes, 
precipitated by him, which threw the entire colony into 
disorder, and resulted finally in his banishment from 
the jurisdiction. 

The composition of the Salem settlement, with its Separa- 
tist tendencies, has already been discussed. Still, the 
church there was, constructively, in fellowship with the 
English church, and one may be allowed faintly to wonder 
why Roger Williams had no trouble of conscience in min- 
istering to them, since he was debarred by conscience from 
remaining with the Boston church. But, nevertheless, 
having arrived at Salem, Williams wrote to the church at 
Plymouth, desiring letters of dismissal to the Salem church. 
These were granted, "with some caution to them concern- 
ing him and what care they ought to have of him."* At 
once he entered upon his wo'*' as teacher. Yet he was 



'Bradford, p. 370; et vide Mather's Magnolia Christi Americana, ii, 496. 



44 Roger Williams 

not formally installed in office, but ministered to the people 
even as he had done in Plymouth. The spirit of contro- 
versy, which had already displayed itself as a prominent 
trait of his character, could not long remain in abeyance. 
The ministers of the colony were wont to assemble from 
Newetown, (Cambridge) Watertown, Roxbury, Dorches- 
ter, Salem and elsewhere, *'at one of their houses by course, 
for the purpose of discussing and consulting upon questions 
of common interest." One cannot help recalling a similar 
custom which prevails in many of the cities of New Eng- 
land at the present day, of the assembling of the clergy of 
the various denominations, each in their own place of meet- 
ing, on successive Monday mornings for discussion 
and conference. It was not long after Williams' 
arrival at Salem, in November, 1633, that he "took some 
exception against it as fearing it might grow in time to a 
presbytery, or superintendency, to the prejudice of the 
churches* liberty. But this fear was without cause, 
for they were all clear on that point, that no church or 
person can have power over another church, neither did 
they in their meetings exercise any such jurisdiction."^ 

This attack upon the association was the first muttering 
of the storm that was to follow — a storm which shook the 
Colony of Massachusetts Bay to its foundations, and well 
nigh destroyed its stability. In December, 1633, Williams 
had promulgated an idea which was, in effect, a formal 
attack upon the very groundwork of the colonial structure. 
He forwarded to the governor and assistants a treatise 
which he had prepared during his residence at Plymouth, 
"wherein, among other things, he disputed their right to 
the lands they possessed 1 ^re, and concluded that, claim- 

»Winthrop, i, 139, 



A Political Pioneer 45 

ing by the King's grant, they could have no title, nor other- 
wise, except they compounded with the natives."* 

So bold and so radical a movement as this at once created 
alarm among the magistracy, for it was not only an attack 
upon the validity of the king's patent — the very root and 
groundwork of their political structure — but it implied a 
reflection upon the royal prerogative, which, prior to the 
reign of Anne, included the right to alienate crown lands 
by grant at pleasure. It was still more than this for, in 
this treatise. King James was openly charged with having 
told "a solemn public lie, because, in his patent, he blessed 
God that he was the first Christian prince that had dis- 
covered this land. " Again, he charged the king and others 
"with blasphemy, for calling Europe Christendom, or the 
Christian World. "^ Still more than this. Winthrop records 
that Williams "did personally apply to our present king, 
Charles, these three places in the Revelation, viz." But 
what were these references to the Apocalypse we can only 
conjecture, for the historian suddenly paused, evidently 
with the intent of refreshing his memory in the interest of 
accuracy, and he never returned to complete his entry. 

This attack upon the king could have been no less dis- 
tasteful to the magistracy of the Bay than was the attack 
upon the validity of the patent; for they well knew that, 
were these utterances but to reach the ears of the imperi- 
ous Charles, they would be regarded as nothing less than 
treason. A meeting of the governor and assistants was 
hastily called, on the twenty-seventh day of December, 1633, 
to take these matters into serious consideration. Endecott, 
unfortunately, was absent and accordingly a letter was 
addressed to him by Winthrop, "to let him know what 

*Winthrop, i, 145. 
'Idem. 



46 Roger Williams 

was done and withal added divers arguments to confute 
the said errors, wishing him to deal with Mr. Williams to 
retract the same etc. Whereto he returned a very modest 
and discreet answer."* 

What were the "arguments" put forth by Winthrop, 
"to confute the said errors" promulgated by Williams in 
his treatise, the governor does not record. But they were, 
without doubt, the same as, or similiar to, those contained 
in his "Conclusions for the Plantation in New England," 
wherein he answers "divers objections w^^ have been made 
against this plantation w*^ their answeares and resolucons :" 

06; 1: We have noe warrant to enter uppon that land w^^ 
hath been soe long possessed by others. 

Answ: 1: That w^^ lies comon & hath never been replen- 
ished or subdued is free to any that will possesse and improve 
it, for god hath given to the sonnes of men a double right to the 
earth, there is a naturall right & a Civill right the first right 
was naturall when men held the earth in common every man 
soweing, and feeding where he pleased: and then as men and 
the cattle increased they appropriated certaine pcells of ground 
by enclosing, and peculier manurance, and this in tyme gave 
them a Civill right, such was the right w*'^ Ephron theHittite 
had in the feild of Mackpelah wherein Abraham could not "bury 
a dead corps w*^out leave, though for the out parts of the Country 
w*^^ lay common he dwelt uppon them, & tooke the fruit of them 
att his pleasure, the like did Jacob w*'^ fedd his cattle as bold in 
Hamors land (for he is sayd to be the lord of the Country) and 
other places where he came as ye native inhabitants themselves 
& that in those times & places men accoumpted nothing their 
owne but that w*^^ they had appropriated by their owne indus- 
try, appeares plainly by this that Abimelecks servants in their 
owne Countrey when they oft contended w*^ Isaacks servants 
about wells w*'^ they hadd digged yett never strove for the land 
wherein they were. Soe lil^ewise between Jacob & Laban he 

'Winthrop, i, 145. 



A Political Pioneer 47 

would not take a kidd of Labans w*^out his speeiall contract, 
but he makes noe bargain w*^ him for the land where they feed, 
and it is very pbable if the countrey had not been as free for 
Jacob as for Laban, that covetous wretch would have made his 
advantage of it, & have upbrayded Jacob w*^ it, as he did w*^ 
his cattle. And for the Natives in New England they inclose noe 
land neither have any settled habitation nor any tame cattle to 
improve the land by, & soe have noe other but a naturall right 
to those countries Soe as if wee leave them sufficient for their use 
wee may lawfully take the rest, there being more then enough 
for them & us. 

gdly -^g gjjaii come in w*^ the good leave of the Natives, who 
finde benefitt already by our neighbourhood & learne of us to 
improve pt to more use, then before they could doe the whole, 
& by this meanes wee come in by valuable purchase: for they 
hav of us that w^^ will yield them more benefitt than all the 
land w*^^ wee have from them. 

3^'y God hath consumed the Natives w*^ a great plague in 
those pts soe as there be few in-habitants left. 

For a time the disputatious spirit of Williams was 
stayed, and he wrote a letter to the governor and assis- 
tants, "very submissively, professing his intent to have 
been only to have written for the private satisfaction of 
the governor, etc., of Plimouth, without any purpose to 
have stirred any further in it, if the governor here had 
not required a copy of him; withal, offering his book or 
any part of it to be burnt.'* "At the next court," con- 
tinues Winthrop, "he appeared penitently, and gave sat- 
isfaction of his intention and loyalty. So it was left and 
nothing done in it."* 

This matter, together with the submission of Mr. Will- 
iams, was again taken into serious consideration and 
made the subject of discussion at a meeting of the gover- 



'Winthrop, i 145. 



48 Roger Williams 

nor and council a month later than the date of this record. 
Governor Winthrop makes this entry under date of Jan- 
uary 24, 1633: 

The governor and council met again at Boston to consider 
of Mr. Williams's letter, etc., when with the advice of Mr. Cotton 
and Mr. Wilson and weighing his letter and further considering 
of the aforesaid passages in his book, (which being written in 
very obscure and implicative phrases, might well admit of doubt- 
ful interpretation,) they found the matters not to be so evil as at 
first they seemed. Whereupon they agreed that, upon his re- 
traction, etc., or taking an oath of allegiance to the king, etc., 
it should be passed over.* 

It is worthy of note that, in all the records which we 
have concerning Roger Williams, this is, during his resi- 
dence in the Bay Colony, the sole recorded instance in 
which he is represented as formally receding from a po- 
sition once assumed. We may, therefore, conclude that 
his attacks upon the king's patent, and upon the king's 
personal character, were desired by him to be regarded 
simply as theories. He was, it may be believed, at heart 
truly loyal to the government of the colony as established, 
and loyal to the king. And yet, despite his submission, 
and his apparent penitence, his proclivity to controver- 
sial discussion soon overmastered his good resolutions. 
It was less than a year after this episode that it became 
known, to the surprise and discomfiture of the magis- 
trates, that Williams had "stirred further in it" and was 
again engaged, and now openly and publicly, in denounc- 
ing the royal patent, by which the colonists claimed 
their title to the soil upon which they had erected their 
homes and upon the authority of which they had built 
up their political structure. 
P And now arose a new question, frivolous and trivial, 

»Ibid, i, 147. 



A Political Pioneer 49 

as it seems to us of to-day, but, to the mind of Williams, 
of serious import. It would appear that his mind was 
so constructed that he was unable to discern the relative 
importance of things. When, therefore, he dropped for 
a time the discussion of the validity of the king's patent, 
to enforce the notion that women should not appear in 
public, and especially at church, unveiled, the triviality 
of the contention does not appear to have appealed to 
his mind. 

In March, 1633, Governor Winthrop makes this record : 
At the lecture at Boston a question was propounded about 
veils. Mr. Cotton concluded that where, (by the custom of the 
place,) they were not a sign of women's subjection, they were 
not commanded by the apostle. Mr. Endecott opposed and 
did maintain it by general arguments brought on by the apostle. 
After some debate, the governor, perceiving it to grow to some 
earnestness, interposed and so it brake off.* 

By whom this question was propounded at the lecture 
the annalist leaves us in doubt, but from the fact that 
Mr. Endecott, an ardent admirer and frequent champion 
of Williams, maintained a prominent part in the discus- 
sion, one may well imagine that the propounder was Mr. 
Endecott himself, or, it may be, Mr. Williams.&At all 
events it is certain that Mr. Williams introduced the sub- 
ject to his people at Salem and argued to such good effect 
that the major portion of the women of his congregation 
thought it a shame to them to appear in public unveiled. 

It was now that Williams first since his arrival in New 
England, was brought into open controversy with John 
Cotton. That they were old antagonists we cannot fail 
to recall; for the memorable ride of Cotton, Williams, and 
Hooker, to Sempringham, and the earnest discussion by 
the way are still fresh in memory. They were lifelong 

»Winthrop, i 149. 



50 Roger Williams 

antagonists, too, for the fame of Williams as an author 
rests largely upon his published controversies upon doc- 
trinal points with this same John Cotton. Friendly they 
were always and often affectionate in their intercourse 
one with another; and yet, it is probable that, throughout 
their lives, these two men, so diverse were their habits of 
thought, were able to find no topic upon which they were 
in entire accord. 

John Cotton had been, for many years, the vicar of the 
Church of St. Botolph in Boston, Lincolnshire; and when 
he came to New England, in 1634, he found himself among 
friends. That very many of the Winthrop company were 
from the region about Boston, in Lincolnshire is apparent, 
if in no other way, from the fact of the assumption of the 
name of the old city, by the newly planted settlement. 
When, therefore, the former minister of St. Botolph's ap- 
peared in the streets of Boston in New England, the wel- 
come of the people was undisguised. He at once was 
installed as assistant pastor of the First Church in Bos- 
ton, the position which had been spurned by Williams; 
and although he had early in his career in his new home, 
come in rude contact with the people, by advocating, in 
an election sermon, something which approached the 
idea of a life tenure of ofiice for the magistracy, he had 
suflficient tact to refrain from making an offensive hobby 
of his notion. ^When Williams put forth his fresh con- 
tention concerning the wearing of veils by women. Cotton 
was quick to discern the weak spot in the armor and to 
accept the challenge. He saw at once the fallacy of the 
position of Williams, and he embraced an early oppor- 
tunity to pass a Lord's Day with the Salem brethren. He 
was, as a matter of course, invited to speak to the people, 
but whether by way of preaching, or of "prophesy," can- 
not now be said. 



A Political Pioneer 51 

It is certain that Mr. Williams had many followers and 
admirers, especially among the women of his flock. 
Some of his adherents at Plymouth had followed him to 
Salem, and he had gained very many others from among 
his new people. So earnest were the women in following 
his guidance that, when Mr. Cotton arose to speak, he 
beheld the strange spectacle of a congregation, the great- 
er portion of the female members of which had concealed 
their features behind impenetrable veils. Mr. Cotton's 
opportunity was before him and, being sure of his position, 
he would have been more than human had he not taken 
an inward pleasure in flooring his old antagonist upon 
his own ground and from his own pulpit. He launched 
into a discussion of the subject before him in so open an 
object lesson, and discountenanced the practice of wear- 
ing veils upon scriptural grounds. He showed them that, 
among the ancient Hebrews, it was the young virgins 
only, whose habit it was to go in public closely veiled ; and 
that this rule in no manner applied to other women. 
The only exceptions to this rule, among the Hebrews, he 
found in the harlots, citing the case of Tamar, who "cov- 
ered herself with a veil and wrapped herself and sat in 
an open place" — an example which none of his hearers 
were anxious to be regarded as following.^ 

Lastly, Mr. Cotton quoted the case of Ruth who, in 
her widowhood was wrapped about with a veil, as related 
in Ruth ni, 15. Now, inasmuch as his female auditors, 
who sat before him, with their faces securely hidden, were 
not all maidens, nor yet all widows, and none were dis- 
solute women of the town, scriptural arguments in favor 
of the universal wearing of veils could not be urged, but 
quite the contrary. 

•Genesis XXXVIII, 14, 15. 



52 Roger Williams 

It was in the forenoon that Mr. Cotton thus vigorously 
discoursed to the good women of Salem; and when the 
congregation assembled for the afternoon worship a won- 
derful change was apparent. Mr. Cotton, so relates the 
Reverend William Hubbard, *'by his doctrine convinced 
most of the women in the place, that it unveiled them, so 
as they appeared in the afternoon without their veils, being 
convinced that they need not put on veils on any such 
account as the use of that covering is mentioned in the 
scriptures; and his discourse," continues Mr. Hubbard, 
"let in so much light unto their understandings that they 
who before thought it a shame to be seen in the publick 
without a veil, were ashamed ever after to be covered with 
Lthem."» 

Mr. Williams, upon this occasion, seems to have been 
convinced of the superiority of Mr. Cotton's reasoning, or 
to have been left without a following, for we hear no more 
of this notion. Indeed, it was soon forgotten in a matter 
of much greater moment which, not long after, presented 
itself. 

It is unquestionably true that John Endecott was great- 
ly impressed with the personality of Williams and held his 
teachings in high regard. As early as 1628 Endecott had 
come out from England, at the head of a small body of 
colonists, who added their strength to the feeble settlement 
at Naumkeag, or Salem, led by Roger Conant, the remnant 
of John White's Dorchester Associates. He was the pro- 
visional governor of the English colonies in New England, 
until superseded by John Winthrop, the first governor un- 
der the charter granted March 4, 1629. But, although 
no longer the governor, Endecott was a personage of no 
little influence in the settlement at Salem, and, indeed. 



'Hubbard, v. 204, 205. 



A Political Pioneer 53 

throughout the 'colony. Hawthorne, in one of his *' Twice 
Told Tales," has drawn with a master hand the picture 
of this great leader of men, with his sword, in the presence 
of the train band of Salem, thrusting through and through 
the standard of England, and tearing from it the cross of 
St. George.* The romancer ascribes this bold act, in a 
measure fancifully, no doubt, to the reception of a letter, 
wherein is shown the determination of Charles I, influenced 
by Archbishop Laud, to send over a governor-general of 
the colonies and to force upon the people of New England 
the Episcopal form of worship. Cotton Mather is authority 
for the statement that to the influence and teachings of 
Williams are to be ascribed this act — an act which, were 
its commission to become known in England would, 
and properly so, be regarded as treason. ^ At the pre- 
sent day, in Massachusetts, any mutilation of, or indignity 
offered to the national flag, is an offence, punishable by 
a heavy fine. 

This deed of Mr. Endecott alarmed the governor and 
magistrates; for surely, as matters then stood between the 
colony and the home government, it was an act of the 
greatest imprudence, as tending to precipitate a feeling of 
ill will, then (as we shall see farther on,) rapidly becoming 
intensified. It was not forgotten that five years before, 
John and Samuel Browne had been sent back to England 
because of their determination to conform to the practices 
of the Church of England, and that, on arriving there 
they had entered complaint to the king's council, of the 
non-conformity of the colonists. A meeting of the governor 
and assistants was hastily called, at the governor's house 
in Boston, on the twenty-seventh day of November, 1634, 



*Endicott and the Red Cross. 
^Magnalia Christi Americana, ii, 499. 



54 Roger Williams 

to consider the matter. Some of the ministers of the Col- 
ony were called into the conference, so grave an affair did 
this appear to be; and very solemn was this consultation 
of magistrates and elders. After due consideration it was 
resolved, in order that all suspicion of participation in, or 
approval of, the act of Endecott might be averted from them 
that a letter, to be signed by all, should be addressed to Mr. 
Downing, in England, the brother-in-law of Winthrop. 
This letter, it was proposed, should state plainly the exact 
truth of the matter, expressing their disapproval of the act 
and their purpose of punishing the offender. Very politic 
were Winthrop and the magistrates and elders, in the 
phraseology of this missive, for they wrote it, says Winthrop 
"with as much wariness as we might, being doubtful of the 
lawful use of the cross in an ensign, though we were clear 
that fact, as concerning the matter, was very unlawful.^" 
Nevertheless, doubtful as were those Puritan settlers, 
in their disapproval of Romanism, of the propriety of the 
use of the cross as a national symbol, they were not pre- 
pared to bring themselves in direct antagonism with the 
home government upon this issue. The cross of St. George 
was a device upon the national colors, and the flag as a 
symbol of the government to which they owed their alle- 
giance, demanded their reverence. A man prominent in 
the councils of the colony had defaced it wantonly, and 
his act must be promptly and formally repudiated. The 
missive sent to London, disclaiming sympathy with the 
act of Endecott, was not deemed sufficient to this end. At 
the session of the Great and General Court, held March 4, 
1634-5, the matter was brought up and fully discussed, 
and it was "voted by the major of the court that the act 
of Mr. Endecott in altering the crosse in the ensign at Salem 



^Winthrop, i. 179. 



A Political Pioneer 55 

shall be referd for hearing and determining therefor till the 
next general court."* It is to be noted that Endecott was 
a member of the General Court which passed this resolve, 
as one of the Assistants, and that he was present at its 
passage. 

The "next General Court," to which this matter was re- 
ferred, convened May 6, 1635. It was a court of elections, 
and John Haynes was elected governor. It is noticeable 
that the name of Endecott does not appear, either among 
the Assistants, or as one of the deputies to this court. Af- 
ter the election was over, and some minor matters of rou- 
tine disposed of, " Mr. Brenten, Richard Collicott, Willm. 
Heath, Abraham Palmer, Edward Stebbens, Mr. Oldham, 
Tymothy Tomlyns, Francis Weston, Humfry Bradstreet, 
Mr. Goodwyn, Mr. Ollyver, Mr. Mayhewe, Mr. Spencer 
were chosen a comitee to consider the act of Mr. Endecott 
in defacing the colors and to report to the court how far 
they judge it sensureable. "* 

This committee retired for consultation and, later in 
the day, made its report, as in the record here shown : — 

The comissioners chosen to consider of the act of Mr. Ende- 
cott concerning the colors att Salem did reporte to the court 
that they apprehend hee had offended therin many wayse in 
rashnes, uncharitableness, indiscrecon and exceeding the 
limitts of his calling. Whereupon the court hath sensured him 
to be sadly admonished for his offense, which accordingly he 
was and also disabled for beareing any office in the com on wealth 
for the space of a year nexte ensueing.^ 

Thus the executive and legislative departments of the 
colonial government purged themselves of all complicity 



'Massachusetts Colonial Records, i, 37. 
2Ibid, i, 145. 
^Ibid, i, 146. 



56 Roger Williams 

in this unfortunate affair. But, politic as they were, they 
were not to escape trouble in England, as the result of 
this teaching of Williams. At the same hastily called 
meeting of the governor and assistants, at the governor's 
house, on the twenty-seventh day of November, 1634, 
after the matter of the mutilation of the colors had been 
considered. Governor Winthrop records: 

It was likewise informed that Mr. Williams of Salem had 
broken his promise to us, in teaching publickly against the 
king's patent, and our great sin in claiming right thereby to 
this country, etc., and for usual terming the churches of England 
antichristian. We granted summons to him for his appearance 
at the next court.^ 

A storm was gathering which presaged distress if not 
destruction to the colony. Genuine alarm now began to 
be felt among the magistracy, concerning the possible 
results of those teachings. The episode of the cross had 
been promptly denounced by the colony; but yet Will- 
iams had very many adherents at Salem. "Divers of 
the weaker sort of church members," it is recorded, "had 
been thoroughly leavened with his opinions."" The col- 
ony, as we shall presently see, had been passing through 
a critical period in its existence, and the utmost care must 
be exercised, lest traitors to the colonial government should 
enter the ranks of the magistracy. Numbers of new- 
comers were constantly arriving and taking up their homes 
among them, people concerning whose antecedents they 
knew nothing. Anticipating this storm, it had been de- 
termined, in May, 1634, that an oath of fidelity to the 
colony should be established, to which all should be asked 
to subscribe. It was a prudent step to take and one 



^Winthrop, i, 180. 
"Hubbard, ii, 207. 



A Political Pioneer 57 

which was essential to the well being and stability of the 
colonial government. 

To require an oath of fidelity of the freemen of the col- 
ony was no new feature in its government. Almost from its 
foundation an oath of this nature had been required, and, 
indeed, the name of Roger Williams himself appears upon 
the list of admitted freemen who took and subscribed 
to the freeman's oath, on the eighteenth day of May, 
1631. The name of Samuel Skelton, Mr. Williams* 
predecessor in the pastorate at Salem, appears in the 
same list. The new oath, which was adopted May 14, 
1634, was more searching in its terms than that at first 
employed and was in these words: 

THE OATH OF FREEMEN AGREED UPON ATT the 
GENERAL COURT, May 14, 1634. 

I, A.B., being by God's pvidence an inhabitant & ffreeman 
within the jurisdiccon of this comon weale, doe ffreely acknow- 
ledge myself subject to the goument thereof, & therefore doe 
sweare by the greate and dreadfull name of the euer lyveing 
God that I wil be true & faithful to the same, & will accord- 
ingly yeild assistance & support therevnto, with my pson & 
estate, as in equitie I am bound & will also truely indeavr, 
to mayntaine & preserue all the liberties & previlidges there- 
of, submitting my selfe to the wholesome lawes made & 
established by the same; and further, that I will not plott nor 
practice any euill against it, nor consent to any that shall soe 
doe, but will tymely discouer & reveale the same to lawfuU 
aucthority nowe here established for the speedy preventing 
thereof. Moreover I doe solemnly bind my selfe in the sight 
of God that when I shal be called to giue my voyce touching 
any such matter of this state, wherein ffreemen are to deale, 
I will give my vote & suffrage as I shall judge best to conduce 
& tend to the publique weale of the body, without respect of 

^Massachusetts Colonial Records, i, 117. 



58 Roger Williams 

psons or favr of any man. Soe helpe mee God in the Lord 
Jesus Christ/ 

As soon as this plan was adopted Williams saw a fresh 
subject for controversy and he attacked this new order 
with all the vigor shown in his movement against the 
patent. It was not lawful, he declared with vehemence, 
to require an oath as a test of fidelity, for it was Christ's 
prerogative alone to have his office established by an oath 
and because an oath is a part of God's worship, and God's 
worship is not to be put upon carnal persons. '' An oath, 
he declared, is a form of prayer, and it is not lawful for an 
unregenerate person to pray. Neither, he insisted, is it 
lawful for a godly man to have communion, either in 
family prayer, or in an oath, with such as he regards un- 
regenerate.* 

In this attack upon the custom of administering oaths, 
it will be observed that Williams maintained a thorough 
consistency; for we have already seen that he had, at one 
time in his life, submitted to the loss of considerable 
money, in the chancery courts in England, rather than 
submit himself to the imposition of a judicial oath; and 
yet, that he did take the freeman's oath, in May, 1631, 
more than a year after his arrival at Boston, affords a 
puzzle not readily solved.^ 



^Magnalia Christi Americana, ii, 507. 
^Massachusetts Coloiiial Records, i, appendix. 



CHAPTER IV 

It will be useful, at this point, to consider the political 
status of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, and its rela- 
tions to the home government at this period. Allusion has 
already been made to the fact that this was a critical period 
in the history of the colony. The reader has already 
noted the care which was taken by Winthrop and the 
magistrates to avert from themselves the suspicion of 
disloyalty, especially in the matter of Endecott's undoubt- 
edly treasonable act of mutilation of the national colors. 
Winthrop has given the clew to the situation where he 
records, under date of February 22, 1632, the arrival of 
the ship William^ and says: — 

By this ship we had intelligence from our friends in England 
that Sir Ferdinando Gorges and Capt. Mason, (upon the in- 
stigation of Sir Christopher Gardiner, Morton and Ratcliff) 
had preferred a petition to the lords of the privy council, charg- 
ing us with many false accusations; but through the Lord's 
good providence and the care of our friends in England, (es- 
pecially Mr. Emanuel Downing, who had married the gover- 
nour's sister, and the good testimony given on our behalf by 
one Capt. Wiggin who dwelt at Pascataquack and had been 
divers times among us) their malicious practice took not effect. 
The principal matter they had against us was the letters of some 
indiscreet person among us, who had written against the church 
government in England, etc., which had been intercepted by 
occasion of the death of Capt. Leavitt, who carried them, and 
died at sea.^ 

Some months later arrived the vessels William and 



Winthrop i, 119. 



60 Roger Williams 

JaTWy and Mary and Jane^ bearing letters from the 
home country. Again, Winthrop records :~ 

By these ships we understood that Sir Christopher Gardiner 
and Thomas Morton and Philip Ratcliffe (who had been pun- 
ished here for their misdemeanours) had petitioned to the king 
and council against us (being set on by Sir Ferdinando Gorges 
and Capt. Mason, who had begun a plantation at Pascataquack 
and aimed at the general government of New England for their 
agent there, Capt. Neal). The petition was of many sheets oi 
paper, and contained many false accusations, (and among them 
some truths misrepeated) accusing us to intend rebellion, to 
have cast off our allegiance and to be wholly separate from the 
church and laws of England; that our ministers and people did 
continually rail against the State, church and bishops there, etc. 
Upon which, such of our company as were there in England, 
viz: Sir Richard Saltonstall, Mr. Humfry and Mr. Cradock were 
called before a committee of the council, to whom they delivered 
in an answer in writing; upon reading whereof, it pleased the 
Lord, our gracious God and Protector, so to work with the lords, 
and after with the King's majesty, when the whole matter was 
reported to him by Sir Thomas Jermin, one of the council, (but 
not of the committee, who yet had been present at the three days 
of hearing, and spake much in the commendation of the gover- 
nour, both to the lords and after to his majesty :) that he said he 
would have them severely punished, who did abuse his governour 
and the plantation; that the defendants were dismissed with a 
favourable order for their encouragement, being assured from 
some of the council, that his majesty did not intend to impose the 
ceremonies of the Church of England upon us; for that it was 
considered that it was the freedom from such things that made 
people come over to us; and it was credibly informed to the 
council that this country would,|in time, be very beneficial to 
England for masts, cordage, etc., if the Sound should be de- 
barred.* 

The story of this attack upon the integrity of the char- 

^Winthrop, i, 122. 



A Political Pioneer 61 

ter and the result of the hearing by the privy council, is 
told in greater detail by Governor Winthrop, in a letter 
addressed to Governor Bradford, in which he encloses 
a copy of the order of the council. 

John Winthrop to William Bradfoed 
Sir:— 

Upon a petition exhibited by Sr: Christo. Gardener, Sr: Ferd. 
Gorges, Captaine Masson, &c., against you and us, the cause 
was heard before ye lords of ye privy counsel! and after reported 
to ye king, the success wherof maks it evident to all, that ye 
Lord hath care of his people hear. The passages are admirable 
and too long to write. I hartily wish an opportunitie to im- 
parte them unto you, being many sheets of paper. But ye con- 
clusion was (against all mens expectation) an order for our 
incouragemente and much blame and disgrace upon ye adver- 
saries, w*^^ calls for much thankfulnes from us all, which we 
purpose (ye Lord willing) to express in a day of thanksgiving 
to our mercifull God, (I doubt not but you will consider if it 
be not fitt for you to joyne in it,) who, as he hath humbled us 
by his late correction, so he hath lifted us up, by an abundante 
rejoycing, in our deliverance out of so desperate a danger; so 
as that w*'^ our enemies builte their hopes upon to mine us by. 
He hath mercifully disposed to our great advantage, as I shall 
further aquainte you, when occasion shall serve. 
The coppy of ye order follows: 

At ye courte held at White-hall ye 19. Jan: 1632. 

Present. 
SIGILLUM. Lord Privy Seal Lord Cottinton 

Ea: of Dorsett Mr. Trer 

Lo : Vi : Falkland Mr. Vic Chambr 

Lo: Bp: of London Mr. Sec: Cooke 
Maister Sec: Windebanck 

Wheras his Ma*'® hath latly been informed of great dis- 
traction and much disorder in yt plantation in ye parts of Am- 
erica called New England, which, if they be true & suffered lo 



62 Roger Williams 

rune on, would tende to ye great dishonour of this kingdome, 
and utter ruine of that plantation. For prevention wherof and 
for ye orderly settling of government, according to ye intention 
of those patents which have been granted by his Ma*'® and from 
his late royall father King James, it hath pleased his Ma*'® that 
ye lords & others of his most honorable Privie counsel!, should 
take ye same into consideration, their lordships in ye first place 
thought fitt to make a comitie of this bord, to take examination 
of ye matters informed; which comitties having called diverse 
of ye principall adventures in yt plantation, and heard those 
that are complanants against them, most of the things informed 
being denyed and resting to be proved by parties that must be 
called from yt place, which required a long expence of time; and 
at presente their lordships finding the adventurers were upon 
dispatch of men, victles and marchandice for yt place, all of 
which would be at a stand, if ye adventurers should have dis- 
couragemente, or take suspition that the state hear had no good 
opinion of yt plantation; their lordships, not laying the faulte 
or fancies (if any be) of some perticuler men upon the generall 
governmente, or principall adventurers, (which in due time is 
further to be inquired into) have thought fitt in ye meane time 
to declare, that the appearences were so faire and hopes so 
greate, yt the countrie would prove both beneficiall to this 
kingdom, and profitable to ye perticular adventurers, as yt the 
adventurers had cause to goe on cherfully with their under- 
takings and rest assured, if things were carried as was pre- 
tended when ye patents were granted, and accordingly as by 
the patentes it is appointed, his Majestic would not only uiain- 
taine the liberties & privileges heretofore granted, but supply 
any thing further that might tend to the good governmente, and 
prosperitie, and comforte of his people ther of that place, &c. 

William Trumball. " 

The story of the dream of empire, indulged in by Sir 
Ferdinando Gorges, for more than a score of years, and 



^Bradford, 355-357, 



A Political Pioneer 63 

of the final extinguishment of his hopes, has, long ago, 
passed into history. Gorges, who had lain under a heavy 
cloud, during the latter portion of the reign of Elizabeth, 
at her death and the accession of James II, having al- 
ready been released from prison, was restored to his former 
position as military governor of Plymouth (England). 
In 1605 one Capt. Weymouth returned to England from 
a voyage to the coast of Maine and Massachusetts, from 
whence he brought several Indians, to be sold as slaves. 
Meeting Capt. Weymouth, Sir Ferdinando Gorges learned 
from him much concerning the character of the region 
which was called by the name of New England. The 
Indians, too, interested him, they having been left in his 
charge, and from them he, perhaps, learned something 
of the nature of the country and its resources. In his 
mind arose the vision of a great province, of which he 
should be the governor-general, and from which he should 
reap a fortune in wealth and glory. He had a natural 
love of adventure and the thought, thus suggested to his 
mind, was ever present with him. In his dreams Gorges 
saw forests, crowded to the full with deer, elk and wild 
birds; lakes and streams teeming with fish; a country 
where mines of gold and silver and precious stones, rich 
and rare, were only too easy of access. 

In 1606 were granted the charters of the London, and 
of the Plymouth Companies, and Gorges, attaching to 
his interests Sir John Popham, a man of wealth, position 
and influence, connected himself with the latter company. 
It is evident that the company, as such, beyond obtaining 
a grant of land, between the forty-first and the forty-fifth 
degrees of North latitude, made little use of its charter. 
Exploring parties were sent out, both by Popham and 
Gorges, and, in 1607, an attempt was made at coloniza- 
tion near the mouth of the Kennebec River, Thjs attempt 



64i Roger Williams 

survived but a few months. Thereafter, until 1620, Gor- 
ges was continually employed in adventures on the New 
England coast, sending out fishing and trading companies 
and once even fitting out an expedition to search for gold 
on Martha's Vineyard. None of those ventures was 
productive of great returns, and Sir Ferdinando, at the 
end of fourteen years, except in the acquisition of expe- 
rience, was no better off than at the beginning. All his 
attempts at colonization had proved futile and the profits 
of the fishing and trading expeditions were all absorbed 
in these abortive efforts. 

In 1620 Gorges, unwilling to abandon his idea, and 
still consumed with the brilliant thought of a great prov- 
ince, over which he should rule, succeeded in infusing 
something of his enthusiasm into the minds of the king 
and court. At all events, a large number of men of the 
peerage, including the Duke of Lenox, Lords Bucking- 
ham, Pembroke and others were willing to lend their 
names to a new enterprise in America. It does not ap- 
pear that they invested large sums of money in the proj- 
ect, or entered to any considerable extent into its manage- 
ment. A new patent was granted by James, under the 
title of "The Council Established at Plymouth, in the 
County of Devon, for the Planting, Ruling, Ordering 
and Governing of New England in America.'* The com- 
pany was colloquially known as "The Council for New 
England." The grant covered an empire in extent, 
stretching from the present site of Philadelphia, north- 
ward to the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, and west- 
ward to the Pacific Ocean. It must be remembered 
however, that no conception then existed of the immense 
sweep of territory which lies between the Atlantic and 
the Pacific seaboards. 

Three years were passed in attempts, on the part of 



A Political Pioneer 65 

Gorges, to excite an interest in the minds of the noble 
patentees, in the project of establishing a colony in New 
England, and to induce them to contribute of their sub- 
stance to insure its final success. Meanwhile, the patent 
itself was antagonized by the parliament of 1621, and 
by the rapidly growing Puritan sentiment of the country. 
Robert Gorges, the son of Sir Ferdinando, had received 
from the Council for New England a patent to a tract of 
land in the vicinity of Massachusetts Bay, but he had 
not immediately gone out to take possession of, and rule 
over, his dukedom. 

In June, 1623, an attempt was made by Gorges to re- 
vive the moribund interest in his project, in the minds 
of his titled associates, and a proposition was made to 
parcel out to the patentees, by lot, the territory covered 
by the patent. A meeting of the Council for New Eng- 
land was held, at which King James himself was present 
and drew the lot for the absent Buckingham. To Sir 
Ferdinando fell the region of Maine, and to Robert Gorges 
was allotted, in general, the region already covered by 
his patent, the region in which it had been determined 
that a fresh attempt at settlement should be made. 

Three years before this remarkable meeting of the 
Council for New England, a settlement had been made in 
New England, within the limits of the grant to the Plym- 
outh Company, but not at the instigation of Gorges. 
The Mayflower had reached Cape Cod, and the harbor 
beyond, almost upon the exact date of the signing of the 
charter of that company. The Pilgrims had endeavored 
to obtain a charter from King James, but in vain; and, 
during their voyage, the territory upon which it was 
afterwards their lot to settle, was granted to a company, 
whose only object was speculation and adventure. This 
settlement within the territory under his nominal control 



66 Roger Williams 

found no opposition in the mind of Gorges, but rather 
was welcomed by him; and from the PhTnouth Company 
the settlers at Plymouth obtained the patent which had, 
a few months before, been denied by the king. 

Another settlement, a failure, as it afterwards proved, 
was begun, in 1625, within the territory covered by the 
Plymouth Company's grant, and, no doubt, within that 
covered by the patent of Robert Gorges. This attempt 
also was made without the co-operation of Gorges, and, 
indeed, a year previous to the meeting of the Council for 
New England, at which the territory was parcelled to the 
patentees by lot. This was the somewhat famous settle- 
ment of Thomas and Andrew Weston at Wessagusset, on 
the south shore of iNIassachusetts Bay and near the pres- 
ent town of Weymouth. This settlement was established 
mainly as a trading post. The settlers here were not of 
such character as would ensure success in such an under- 
taking; yet it is not to be presumed that Gorges in any 
wise discouraged this attempt at settlement within his 
territory. Its failure, after a year or two of distress and 
disorder, was but a type of subsequent attempts made 
by Sir Ferdinando Gorges, or under his auspices, to build 
up the great province of which he, for so many years, had 
dreamed as under his sway. 

A company which went out in 1623, under the lead- 
ership of Robert Gorges, to form a new settlement upon 
the site of Weston's attempt, was composed of far better 
material for such an adventure than was Weston's com- 
pany. And yet, it was no more successful; the attempt 
was abandoned after a winter of great severity, and Rob- 
ert Gorges himself died, soon after his return to England. 
The Reverend William Morell, whom Gorges left behind, 
with a few followers, met with no better success. The 
trading posts in the Kennebec region came to little and 



A Political Pioneer 67 

at the last, when the influence of Sir Ferdinando Gorges 
on the New England coast was waning to its setting, Will- 
iam Blackstone, in his cabin on the hills of Shawmut; 
Thomas Walford, in his rude house at Mishawum (Charles- 
town) ; Samuel Maverick, in his strong house at Winnis- 
immet; David Thomson on his island in the bay; and 
two or three settlers who still lingered in the house erected 
by Weston, at Wessagusset, alone remained as the fruition 
of the dreams of Gorges. 

In 1628 the Council for New England granted a patent 
for a settlement near Massachusetts Bay to John Endecott 
and his company. Not long after, John Gorges, a brother 
of Robert, to whom had reverted the claims of that adven- 
turer in New England, granted a patent to territory in 
the same region to John Oldham. Endecott and his 
associates, who had already settled at Salem, were fear- 
ful of a serious complication of interests. Charles I being 
now king, Endecott, thinking, perhaps, that the influence 
of the Council for New England might be waning in 
England, sought a royal charter. Through the influence 
of John Winthrop, Matthew Cradock and others, aided 
by Lord Dorchester, this effort was successful and, on 
the fourth of March, 1629, the charter of the Colony of 
Massachusetts Bay was signed. The claims of Gorges 
were now superseded; and the colonists thenceforth were 
never at a loss to know where to look for a bitter enemy. 
So long as Sir Ferdinando Gorges lived all that he was 
able to do for the injury of the new Puritan plantations 
in New England, was done with a full heart. A sadly 
disappointed man, he was forced to see a flourishing 
colony, in which he had no part, numbering nearly a 
score of towns and villages, spring up in and about the 
beautiful harbor, of which he had long dreamed as the 
site of his principality. 



68 Roger Williams 

His sense of injury was in no wise lessened in the fact 
that these successful colonists were Puritans. A cavalier 
of the cavaliers, he had long been held in distrust by the 
Puritans. This feeling of hostility Gorges recognized 
and fully returned. What wonder, then, that he was 
willing to lose no opportunity to harass and, if it might be 
possible, to overthrow the Puritan theocracy, which had 
arisen at the mouth of the Charles. As James I said of 
the Puritans of England: "I will make them conform, 
or I will harry them out of the land", so also did Sir 
Ferdinando declare within himself, but with no reserva- 
tion, that he would harry these people out of Massachu- 
setts Bay, if intrigue, and influence at court could be made 
to serve as his successful weapons. 

Thus, briefly, have been sketched the chief events of 
the career of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, in his attempts to 
settle New England. Although it is doubtful if Gorges 
would ever have been able to carry his plans of empire 
to fruition, even if the Puritan settlement had not been 
made, he ever regarded the granting of the charter of the 
Colony of Massachusetts Bay, and the successful es- 
tablishment of a settlement under it, as the death blow 
to his ambition. 

John Mason, to whom also Winthrop alludes, in his 
entry quoted, as being associated with Gorges in the 
attack upon the charter, was a character deserving of 
mention. We first hear of him as having been sent out 
by the Plymouth Company, as an agent in charge of a 
plantation which was attempted, in 1615, in Newfound- 
land. Seven years later, he appears as a patentee, jointly 
with Gorges, to a tract of land lying between the Kennebec 
and the Merrimac rivers. Various conflicting interests 
appeared, for grants of land were made very loosely, in 
those days. Notably, the Endecott patent overlapped, 



A Political Pioneer 69 

in territory, the Mason grant. In 1629 Mason's grant 
was confirmed to the land lying between thejMerrimac and 
Piscatacjua rivers, and extending from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific oceans. Throughout their careers as promoters 
of settlements in New England, Gorges and Mason acted 
in harmony, and always as •antagonists to the interests 
of the Puritan settlers. They were able to command 
not a little influence at court. There were many about 
Whitehall, enemies of the New England colonists and 
their fellow religionists, who were ever ready to listen 
to the tongue of slander and to report its whisperings, 
never lessened in transmission, into the ear of royalty. 
In this connection it is useful, also, to recall again the 
case of the deported brothers Browne, the Salem Epis- 
copalians, who had busied themselves in England, in 
telling their own story of their expulsion, and had put in 
circulation rumors regarding the alleged intemperate atti- 
tude of the colonial ministers and teachers, toward the 
Church of England, as expressed in their sermons and 
prayers. And now, anew, came to the ears of the king 
the continued complaints of Gorges and of Mason, and, 
inspired by them, the accusations of Sir Christopher 
Gardiner, Thomas Morton and Philip Ratcliff. 

Who, then, were these three worthies who were thus 
making known at court their grievances and aiming at 
the revocation of the charter of the Colony of Massachu- 
setts Bay? A sketch of their careers in New England 
will not be unprofitable, as showing the animus which 
impelled this hostility toward the young colony. Sii 
Christopher Gardiner is a character unique in the history 
of the New England colonies. He appeared suddenly in 
these parts, in 1631, at about the time that the Arbella, 
with Winthrop and his company on board, dropped anchor 
in Salem harbor. He announced himself to the colo- 



70 Roger Williams 

nists, when they arrived, as a knight of the "Order of 
the Golden Melice"; and he built him a dwelling near 
the south bank of the Neponset river and not far from 
its mouth. Here he dwelt, in company with a young 
woman, whom he represented to be his cousin and house- 
keeper. He resided in considerable state, with servants 
and, evidently, well provided with such comforts as the 
wilderness made it possible for him to enjoy. Here the 
Plymouth people found him and, finding so fine a gentle- 
man, and a pretty young woman, dwelling thus apart 
from civilization, it is little wonder that their curiosity 
was excited. 

Sir Christopher would appear to have been somewhat 
reticent regarding his object in thus settling in the wilder- 
ness, merely explaining his presence as being due to a 
desire to withdraw from the wearisome turmoil and strife 
of life in England. The suspicions of the magistrates 
of the Plymouth Colony and of those of Massachusetts 
Bay were aroused concerning him, suspicions that were 
destined soon to be realized. In less than a year after 
the arrival of Winthrop and his company, letters were 
received which confirmed their worst fears concerning 
Sir Christopher. Two women, each claiming to be his 
wife, had been successively abandoned by him, and both 
had been left behind when he had sailed for the New 
World; and his present companion, so the magistrates 
were credibly informed, was a young woman of doubtful 
reputation named Mary Grove. It was, accordingly 
resolved, in February, 1631, to return Sir Christopher to 
England, by the ship Lyon, which was soon to sail. 

Sir Christopher, becoming aware of the design of the 
magistrates, kept a careful watch, and when he saw the 
officers emerging from the woods and preparing to cross 
the river near his house, he girded on his rapier, threw 



A Political Pioneer 71 

his gun over his shoulder, and hastily fled into the wilder- 
ness. After some days of wandering he was captured 
by a party of Indians, after a struggle, and delivered 
into the custody of the authorities of the Plymouth Colony. 
Later he was delivered over to the custody of the Bay 
Colony, by the hands of Captain John Underhill. This 
was in the early spring of 1631. 

Governor Bradford's account of the coming of Sir 
Christopher, of the suspicions concerning him, and of 
his arrest and delivery into the custody of the magistrate 
of the Bay is quaint and interesting: 

This year [1631] on Sir Christopher Gardener being, as him- 
self e said, descended of yt house yt the Bishop of Winchester 
came of (who was so great a persecutor of God's saincts in 
Queene Marie's days) and being a great traveler, received his 
first honour of Knighthood at Jerusalem, being made Knight 
of ye Sepulcher ther. He came into these parts under pretence 
of forsaking ye world and to live a private life, in a godly course, 
not unwilling to put him selfe upon any meane imployments and 
take any paines for his living; and some time offered him selfe 
to joyne to ye churches in sundry places. He brought over 
with him a servant or 2 and a comly younge woman, whom he cald 
his cousin, but it was suspected she (after ye Italian manner) 
was his concubine. Living at ye Massachusets, for some 
miscariages which he should have answered, he fled away from 
authority and gott among ye Indeans of these parts; they sent 
after him, but could not gett him, and promissed some reward 
to those yt should find him. The Indeans came to ye Govr here 
and tould wher he was, and asked if they might kill him; he 
tould them no, by no means, but if they could take him and 
bring him hither, they should be payd for their painse. They said 
he had a gune and a rapier, & he would kill them if yey went 
aboute it; and ye Massachusets Indeans said they might kille 
him. But ye Govt tould them no, they should not kill him, but 
watch their opportunitie & take him. And so they did, for where 



72 Roger Williams 

they light of him by a river side, he got into a canowe to get 
from them & when they came nere him, whilst he presented 
his peece at them to keep them of, the streame carried ye canow 
against a rock and tumbled both him & his peece & rapier into 
ye water; yet he got out and having a litle dagger by his side 
they durst not close with him, but getting longe pols they soone 
beat his dagger out of his hand, so he was glad to yeeld; and 
they brought him to ye Govt, But his hands and armes were 
swolen & very sore with ye blowes that they had given him. So 
he used him kindly, & sent him to a lodging wher his armes 
were bathed and anoynted and he was quickly well againe, and 
blamed ye Indeans for beating him so much. They said that 
they did but a litle whip him with sticks. In his lodging, 
those yt made his bed found a litle note booke that by accident 
had slipt out of his pockett,or some private place, in which was 
a memoriall what day he was reconciled to ye pope & church of 
Rome, and in what universitie he took his scapula, and such 
and such degrees. It being brought to ye Govt, he kept it, and 
sent ye Govt of ye Massachusets word of his taking, who sent 
for him. So ye Govt sent him and these notes to ye Govt ther 
who took it very thankfully; but after he gott for England, he 
showed his malice, but God prevented him.* 

Concerning the delivery of Sir Christopher to the au- 
thorities of the Bay Colony, Governor Winthrop thus 
wrote Governor Bradford, of the Plymouth Colony. 
It would appear from a passage in this letter that Gov- 
ernor Bradford had used his good offices with Governor 
Winthrop, to the end that the prisoner might be kindly 
used.2 

John Winthrop to Wh^liam Bradford 

Sm: — It hath pleased God to bring Sr. Christopher Gardner 
safe to us, with thos that came with him. And howsoever I 
never intended any hard measure to him, but to respecte and use 



^Bradford, 352. 
^Bradford, 354. 



A Political Pioneer 73 

him according to his quah'tie, yet I let him know your care of 
him, and yt he shall speed ye better for your mediation. It was 
a speciall providence of God to bring these notes of his to our 
hands; I desire yt you will please to speak to all yt are privie to 
them, not to discovere them to any one, for yt may frustrate ye 
means of any further use to be made of them. The good Lord 
our God who hath always ordered things for ye good of his poore 
churches here, directe us in this aright and dispose it to a good 
issue. I am sorrie we put you to so much trouble about this 
gentleman, especialy at this time of great imploymente, but I 
know not how to avoyed it. I must again intreat you to let me 
know what charge & troble any of your people have been at 
aboute him, yt it mav be recompenced. So with the true affec- 
tion of a friend^ desiring all happiness to your selfe & vours 
and to all my worthy friends with you (whom I love in ye Lord) 
I comende you to his grace & good providence, & rest. 

Your Most assured friend, 
Boston, May 5, 1631. John Winthrop. 

Sir Christopher had scarcely become the prisoner of 
the colonists before they were furnished with undoubted 
evidence of his dangerous character. A packet of letters 
addressed to their prisoner fell into the hands of Governor 
Winthrop who, under the circumstances, thought it 
proper to examine their contents. The letters«proved to 
have been written by Sir Ferdinando Gorges, and showed 
that Sir Christopher was an agent in the pay of Gorges, 
sent out in advance of the colonists, as a spy upon their 
movements. 

"There came a shallop from Piscataqua," records 
Governor Winthrop, "which brought news of a small 
English ship come thither with provisions and some 
Frenchmen to make salt. By this boat Capt. Neal, 
governour of Piscataqua, sent a packet of letters to the 
governour, directed to Sir Christopher Gardiner, which, 
when the governour had opened, he found it came from 



74 Roger Williams 

Sir Ferdinando Gorges, (who claims a great part of the 
Bay of Mass.) In the packet was one letter to Thomas 
Morton, (sent prisoner before unto England upon the 
lord chief justice's warrant) by both which letters it ap- 
peared that he had some secret design to recover his pre- 
tended right, and that he reposed much trust in Sir Chris- 
topher Gardiner. These letters we opened because they 
were directed to one who was our prisoner, and declared 
himself an ill-wilier to our government. * ' ^ 

It is certain that the establishment on the banks of the 
Neponset was broken up by the arrest of Sir Christopher. 
It was at first thought best to deport him, as already 
related; but the discovery of his close connection with 
Gorges, perhaps, served to lessen the harshness of the 
colonists' decision. He was treated kindly and a little 
after, dismissed from custody. A year later he re- 
turned to England, where his reports to Sir Ferdinando 
and the Council for New England were probably not 
such as tended favorably to impress the mind of the king. 

Thomas Morton, the second of the trio who are recorded 
by Winthrop as enemies of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, 
in England, is one of the most remarkable characters in 
all New England history. In his New English Canaan he 
calls himself *'Thomas Morton, of Clifford's Inn, Gent." 
The record concerning him is far more voluminous than 
that concerning Sir Christopher Gardiner. He was a 
forerunner of Sir Christopher, having reached New Eng- 
land about the year 1625, as a member of a company 
headed by a certain Captain Wollaston. This company 
of colonists and their settlement comprised one of the 
abortive attempts of Gorges to colonize New England. 
It was a party of adventurers, like all companies sent out 



*Winthrop, i, 68. 



A Political Pioneer "75 

under the auspices of that dreamer. A settlement was 
made on the southerly shore of Massachusetts Bay, at 
a place known to the Indians as Passonagesset, and 
since, even to this day, known as Mount Wollaston. 

Morton had visited New England two or three years 
before, with Weston's company and hence undoubtedly 
had acted somewhat in the capacity of guide to his fellow 
adventurers. Captain Wollaston himself did not long 
remain at the head of the settlement which he had founded. 
Possibly the climate was too severe for his liking, for he 
soon removed to Virginia and New England saw him no 
more, although it still perpetuates his name. 

Wollaston, in leaving, appointed one Rasdell as his 
deputy, and he in turn was succeeded by one Pitcher, 
Rasdell following Wollaston to Virginia. Morton soon 
raised a rebellion, displaced Pitcher and made himself 
the ruler of the settlement. He named the place Mare 
Mount, or, as it was then called, "Merry Mount". Mor- 
ton's accession to power, as the leader of the settlement, 
was signalized by a remarkable ceremony which has be- 
come a notable episode in New England history, and 
has been celebrated by America's great romancer. » 

Morton himself has recorded his life at Merry Mount 
in a curious narrative, in which he deals with the Puritan 
settlers in a semi-humorous, but altogether bitter and 
sarcastic manner.^ His own record, however, sufficiently 
betrays his character, for he makes no secret of the revels 
of himself and his friends, with the aid of "good liquor," 
and with the added aid of the Indian "lasses in beaver 
coats", who were wont to frequent the settlement and 



'Hawthorne's Twice Told Tales — The Maypole of Merry Mount. 
^The New English Canaan. 



76 Roger Williams 

join in the dances about the Maypole, and who were 
"welcome night and day." 

It was not Morton's revelries and alleged immoralities, 
however, greatly as they were abhorred by his Puritan 
and Pilgrim neighbors, which chiefly caused his expulsion 
from New England. The settlement at Passonagesset 
was a trading post, pure and simple. There was no 
pretence that it had been established for any purpose 
other than for trading with the Indians. The Indian 
hunters were adepts at the capture of fur-bearing animals, 
and the skins of the beaver, the deer, the wolf, and the 
bear were readily exchanged for gaily colored cloths, 
beads and trinkets. But, above and beyond all things, 
the Indians coveted fire-arms. They saw the vast supe- 
riority of these weapons over their own bows and arrows 
and, while they feared them in the hands of the 
white man, they longed to possess such powerful 
weapons themselves. Morton and his comrades were 
quick to discover that, in exchange for a gun, they were 
able to procure a much larger quantity of furs, than in 
exchange for any other barter. As furs fetched a large 
price in the London market the temptation was too great 
to be resisted. When, therefore, it was discovered that 
Morton was supplying the Indians with arms and ammu- 
nition, thus placing in the hands of the savages the means 
by which the white settlements could be easily swept out 
of existence in a night, the magistrates and people were 
alarmed. Not only was such conduct opposed to all 
reason and good sense, but it had been expressly forbidden, 
in a royal proclamation issued in November, 1622.* 

"Now to maintaine this riotous prodigallitie, and profuse 
excess," says Bradford, "Morton, thinking him selfe lawless, and 



'Hazard's Historical Collections, i, 151. 



olitical Pioneer 77 

** ^nch & j5sher-men made by trading 

2 to ye Indeans, he, as ye head of 

^<i ye practise of ye same in these parts; 

1 Ui'sg^it iliem how to use them, to charge and discharg, 

proportion of powder to give ye peece, according to 

^c or bignes of ye same; and what shotte to use for foule, 

and what for deare. And having thus instructed them, he im- 

ployed some of them to hunte and fowle for him, so as they 

became farr more active in that imploymente than any of ye 

English, by reason of ther swiftnes of foote, & nimblenes of 

body, being also quick sighted and by continuall exercise well 

knowing ye hants of all sorts of game. So as when they saw ye 

execution that a peece would doe, and ye benefite that might 

come by ye same, they became madd, at it were, after them, and 

would not stick to give any prise they could attaine too for them; 

accounting their bowes & arrowes but babies in comparison of 

them. 

"And here I ay take occasion," continues Bradford, "to 
bewaile ye ' that this wicked man began in these parts, 

and wK ?ovetousnes prevailing in men that should 

kr.o^ - -' t length gott ye upper hand, and made 

riii?> ihiPj^ c<: • Hhstanding any laws to ye contrary; 

^c — ' i -J:- all of peeces all over, both fouling peeces, 

<&c. They have also their moulds to make 
- sorts, as muskett bulletts, pis toll bulletts, swane 
. onote, & of smaler sorts; yea, some have seen them have 

< ^^ scruplats to make scrupins them selves, when they wante 
them, with sundry other implements, wherwith they are ordi- 
narily better fited & furnished then ye English them selves. 
Yea, it is well knowne that they will have powder & shot, when 
the English want it, nor cannot gett it; and yt in a time of 
warr or danger, as experience hath manifested that when 
lead hath been scarce, and men for their owne defence 
would gladly have given a groat a li., which is dear 
enoughe yet hath it bene bought up & sent to other places, 
and sould to shuch as trade it with ye Indeans, at 12 pence ye li.; 
and it is like they give 3 or 4s. ye pound, for they will have it 



78 X Roger Williams 

at any rate. And these things have been done in ye same times, 
when some of their neighbom-s & friends are daily killed by ye 
Indeans, or are in deanger therof, and live but at ye Indeana 
mercie."* 

Before the close of the year 1627 the Plymouth settlers 
were alarmed to discover that^ so far as could be ascer- 
tained, nearly one hundred Indians had been provided 
with the white man's weapons. Early in 1628 the men of 
Plymouth took serious council with their brethren of 
Salem concerning the matter and, as a result, it was de- 
termined to place Morton under arrest. Accordingly, 
Captain Myles Standish, with a party of armed men re- 
paired to Wessagusset, where Morton was visiting, and 
arrested him. He escaped from his captors during the 
night, but was again apprehended, the next day, at his 
house at Merry Mount. He was taken to Plymouth, 
where a council was called to determine what should be 
his fate. Standish favored the infliction of the death 
penalty, but the decision of the council was adverse to 
proceeding to this extremity. It was at length determined 
to send him back to England. Inasmuch as no ship was 
to sail for several months, and it was not deemed expedient 
to keep him in the "bilboes" during the intervening time, 
he was taken to the Isles of Shoals, there to remain until 
June of the same year. In that month he was put on 
board ship in charge of John Oldham and sent to England. 
With him were sent letters addressed to the Council for 
New England, and to Gorges, giving oflacial notification, 
not only of Morton's alleged immoral life, but of his viola- 
tion of the proclamation of King James and his disregard 
of the common safety, in selling fire-arms to the Indians. 

It is not difficult to understand why Gorges, with his 



'Bradford, p. 286 el seq. 



A Political Pioneer 79 

feeling of disappointment at the failure of his plans, and 
his animosity towards those who seemed about to succeed 
where he had failed, was disposed to do nothing in the way 
of punishment of a disturber of the new colony. It seems 
very certain that Morton was not severely dealt with, and 
it is not impossible that he was urged, or at least permitted 
to return. At all events, late in the year 1629, less than 
two years after his deportation, he made his appearance 
at Plymouth. Strangely enough, he returned in company 
with Isaac Allerton, a member of the Plymouth Colony, 
who had been sent as an agent of the colony to England, 
for the purpose of obtaining, if possible, a royal charter, 
similar to that which had been granted to the Bay Colony. 
It was not long before Morton was domiciled anew in his 
old quarters at Mount Wollaston, where a few of his former 
comrades still remained. 

During Morton's absence in England, Endecott and 
his company had arrived in New England and had joined 
themselves to the little settlement at Naumkeag, after- 
wards called Salem. Endecott was early apprised of the 
existence of the settlement at Mount Wollaston — which 
was clearly within the limits of his patent, — of the scandal- 
ous life of the people there and of the arrest and deporta- 
tion of Morton. When, therefore, Morton reappeared 
in the New England settlements, and showed an open de- 
fiance of the authority of the magistrates, and of the laws 
and orders adopted for the good of all, the impulsive Ende- 
cott determined that he would not brook his insolence. A 
party was despatched across the bay to arrest him; but 
Morton, perhaps seeing from his elevated situation, the 
company approaching, fled to the forest and evaded his 
pursuers, who were obliged to return to Salem without 
their hoped for prisoner. 

Sickness and famine which soon beset the Salem cole- 



80 Roger Williams 

nists prevented further movement in the matter for a time. 
A few months later, in June, 1630, Winthrop and his 
party, bringing succor to the Salem people, arrived in the 
Arbella. The section of Endecott's company which had 
been sent through the woods on foot to make a settlement 
at Mishawum (Charlestown) was in as great straits as 
were their brethren at Salem. When the distress of both 
settlements had been relieved, a meeting of the magis- 
trates was called, at which the case of Morton was con- 
sidered. 



CHAPTER V 

This was the first meeting of the Court of Assistants of 
the Colony of Massachusetts Bay of which any record exists. 
In all probability it was actually the first meeting held. 
It was convened at Charlestown on the twenty-third day 
of August, 1630. At this meeting, according to the record, 
"it was ordered that Morton of Mount Woolison [Wol- 
laston] should presently be sent for by pcesse. [process]'*^ 

The only account of the hearing in this case is that re- 
corded by Morton himself in his New English Canaan. 
The colonial authorities, both official recorder and his- 
torian are silent. The record of the next meeting of the 
Court of Assistants, however, gives us the result of the 
trial. The meeting was held on the seventh day of 
September, 1630, and it is interesting to record, in passing, 
that it was at this meeting that it was ordered "that 
Trimountaine shall be called Boston.'* Beyond a doubt 
Morton appeared before the tribunal of magistrates, 
where his misdeeds were fully spread before him and the 
sentence of the court pronounced upon him. It would 
appear from the record that more stress was placed upon 
Morton's alleged ill-treatment of the Indians and upon 
his theft of a canoe from them, than upon the heinous 
offence for which he had, two or three years before, been 
banished by the Plymouth magistracy. It is probable 
that, after Morton's return, he refrained from the offence 
of selling fire-arms to the Indians, but made himself 
obnoxious to them by an overbearing and insolent spirit. 



'Records of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, i, 74. 



82 Roger Williams 

His companions at Mount Wollaston were not of the 
purest reputation and it seemed probable that the settle- 
ment would grow more and more undesirable as a neigh- 
bor. The attitude of the Bay Colony was, from the 
beginning, one of kindness and conciliation towards the 
Indians, as was the part of wisdom. At the very outset, 
therefore, the determination was made that unkindness 
to these simple, barbarous people must have no coun- 
tenance from the authorities. The sentence pronounced 
upon Morton displays the vigor of their determination. 
Thus the record reads: 

It is ordered by this present court that Thomas Morton, of 
Moimt Wolliston shall presently be sett into the bilbowes & 
after sent prisoner into England by the shipp called the Gifte, 
no we returneing thither; that all his goods shal be seazed upon 
to defray the charge of his transportation, payment of his debts 
and to give satisfaccon to the Indians for a cannoe hee unjustly 
tooke away from them; & that his house, after the goods are 
taken out, shal be burnt downe to the ground in the sight of the 
Indians, for their satisfaccon, for many wrongs hee hath done 
them from tyme to tyme.* 

It is quite probable that the reputation which Morton 
is said to have borne in England may have had quite as 
much to do with his second transportation, arrest and 
deportation as any actual offence committed here. Ru- 
mors, rather indefinite, it is true, had come of misdemean- 
ors committed in England, a suspicion of murder even 
being entertained against him. Indeed it would appear 
that Lord Chief Justice Hyde had requested that he be 
sent back that he might be dealt with for his misdemean- 
ors. And yet it does not appear that he was severely 
dealt with on reaching England. He was confined in 



•Records of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, i, 75; Winthrop, i, 34, 35 



A Political Pioneer 83 

jail for a brief period, but he was soon free again, at the 
instance, no doubt, of Gorges, who had use for him. 

There is no doubt that the sentence of Morton, rigorous 
as it was, was carried out in all its terms. Thus one 
more enemy of the infant colony, himself upon terms of 
intimacy with Sir Ferdinando Gorges, was added to the 
party in England, eager to witness the failure of the 
attempt at colonization in New England. 

The third member of the trio of enemies of the colony 
at court was Philip Ratcliffe. The record concerning 
this man and the exact nature of his offence, is even more 
meagre than is that concerning Sir Christopher Gardiner. 
He is said to have been a servant of Governor Matthew 
Cradock, but it seems probable that his position was 
rather that of an agent, or business representative of the 
nominal governor of the colony, who himself remained 
to guard the interests of the company at home. Rat- 
cliffe was evidently a resident of Salem and it was there 
that his offence whatever it actually may have been, was 
committed. The records of the colony are silent in the 
matter, save that they record the verdict of the court, 
under date of June 14, 1631, in these words:— 

1631, June 14 — It is ordered that Philip Ratcliffe shalbe 
whipped, haue his ears cutt of, fyned 40£ & banished out of ye 
ly mitts of this jurisdiccon, for vttering mallitious & scandulous 
speeches against the goumt. & the church of Salem &c., as ap- 
peareth by a pticulr thereof, pued vpon oath.^ 

Winthrop's record does»not greatly vary: 

1631, June 14 — At this court one Philip Ratcliffe, a servant 
of Mr. Cradock, being convict, ore tenus, of most foul, scanda- 
lous invectives against our churches and government was cen- 



^Massachusetts Colonial Records, i, 88. 



84 Roger Williams 

sured to be whipped, lose his ears and be banished the planta- 
tion, which was presently executed/ 

Thomas Morton, in his New English Canaan^ devotes 
a chapter to the Ratcliffe episode, alluding to him under 
the name of Mr. Innocence Fairecloath and describing 
him as sent over into New Canaan by Mr. Mathias Char- 
terparty, (by which latter name he designates Mr. 
Cradock) *' to raise a very good marchantable comodity 
for his benefit.'* Morton represents that certain of the 
colonists 

"practised to get into his [Ratcliffe's] debte, which hee, not mis- 
trusting suffered and gave credit for such commodity as hee had 
sold at a price. When the day of payment came, insteede of 
moneyes, hee, being at that time sick and weake and stood in 
neede of the Beaver hee had contracted for, hee had an epistle 
full of zealous exhortations to provide for the soule. Persisting 
in his demand he," so says Morton, "was proceeded against 
upon charge of blasphemy against the church of Salem." His 
sentence, Morton records as far more severe than appears in 
the records of the Great and General Court of the Colony. This 
he declares, was "to have his tongue bored through, his nose 
slit, his face branded, his ears cut, his body to be whipd in sev- 
erall plantations of their jurisdiction and a fine of forty pounds 
imposed, with perpetual banishment." 

"This cruel sentence," continues Morton, "was stoped in 
part by Sir Christopher Gardiner (then present at the execution) 
by expostulating with Master Temperwell (Winthrop) who was 
content (with that whipping and cutting of part of his ears) to 
send Innocence going, with the loss of all his goods, to pay the 
fine imposed and perpetuall banishment out of their lands of 
New Canaan, in terrorem populi."^ 

The object of Morton in writing and publishing his New 
English Canaan was, obviously, not so much to describe 



^Winthrop, i, 67. 

^Morton's New English Canaan, 



A Political Pioneer 85 

the new land across the sea, and to record facts in the 
history of the young colonists there, as to vindicate him- 
self in Enghsh eyes and to punish enemies in the colonies. 
In other words he desired to "get even," with those who 
had tried and banished him. So virulent is he in his 
charges against the colonists that none of them can safely 
be accepted as facts of history. It may be fairly pre- 
sumed, however, that a violent dispute was precipitated be- 
tween Ratcliffe and some of the people of Salem, over some 
matters of business. Upon which side the right rested does 
not appear, nor does it especially concern us. Ratcliffe 
evidently became greatly incensed and broke out into the 
most terrible invective and blasphemies against the people, 
the churches and the magistrates. That he, in his rage, 
passed beyond the bounds of reason in his "mallitious 
and scandulous speeches" there can be no doubt. The 
sentence of Ratcliffe, as entered in the records of the colony 
was sufficiently cruel, without the added enormities as- 
cribed to the magistracy by Morton. That worthy would 
have us understand that, through the intercession of Sir 
Christopher Gardiner, the more hideous details of the 
sentence, as noted by him were remitted. It is proba- 
bly the truth that, whether by the request of Gardiner or 
not, the sentence of banishment was remitted for a time, 
by Winthrop. That the governor did show this clemency 
to the culprit is certain, since one of the charges brought 
against Winthrop by Dudley, in 1632, was that he had 
remitted the sentences of banishment pronounced against 
Ratcliffe and one Grey. 

It was in the summer of 1632 that Ratcliffe, the third 
of the trio of the colony's disturbers, was sent back to 
England. It was in December of that year that the first 
formal and concerted attack was made upon the charter 
granted by King Charles I. The original petition, " com- 



86 Roger Williams 

posed of many sheets of paper", has not been found among 
the British archives, and is probably not in existence; but 
that it was a vigorous onslaught upon the charter cannot 
be doubted. Sir Ferdinando Gorges and Captain Mason 
appeared in criticism of the methods employed by the 
company in procuring the charter. Gardiner, Morton, 
and Ratcliffe detailed their personal grievances, the latter 
showing his cropped ears in proof of his charges. All 
united in bringing against the colonists charges of sedition 
and intended rebellion against both Church and State. 
The charges were serious and had they not been promptly 
met they might have proved fatal to the life of the strug- 
gling colony. That they were promptly met has already 
been shown in the record made by Winthrop. That the at- 
tempt failed is certain. In May, 1633, Governor Winthrop 
wrote the letter to Governor Bradford, already quoted, in 
which he exultantly informed his brother magistrate of the 
failure of the machinations of the enemies of the colony. 

In the succeeding May, a vessel being about to sail from 
Boston, on her return voyage to England, laden with a 
cargo of fish, Governor Winthrop embraced the opportu- 
nity of still further assuring the king and council of the 
loyalty of the colony. He sent by the hand of Captain 
Graves, master of the ship, the formal answer of the govern- 
or and assistants, to the charges filed by Sir Christopher 
Gardiner, and with it sent also a certificate, signed by 
**the old planters" — doubtless Blackstone, Jeffries, Mav- 
erick and Thompson — "concerning the carriage of af- 
fairs, etc. " This certificate was, no doubt, in the nature 
of an attestation to the truth of the statements contained 
in the reply of the governor and assistants.^ 



^Winthrop, i, 106. 



A Political Pioneer 87 

But, in the interest of historical accuracy and probabil- 
ity, it must be remembered that there was another, and 
perhaps stronger, impelling motive which influenced 
Charles in his decision in favor of the colonists. The 
spirit of colonization was abroad in the world. Early in 
the sixteenth century the French were making settlements 
in Canada, and, in 1608, Quebec was founded. Spain 
in Cuba, in Central America, in Mexico, was converting 
the natives to Christianity with the edge of the sword; and, 
in 1565, had laid the coquina walls of St. Augustine. 
Even earlier than this, Coronado had penetrated far into 
the interior, marching northward from Mexico, in search 
of the seven cities of Cibola, and had founded the city of 
Santa Fe. 

It was not long after the discovery by Columbus of new 
land at the westward, that a papal bull was issued grant- 
ing exclusive control in these lands to Spain and Portugal ; 
and Spanish exploration and attempts at settlement were 
begun at a very early day. Technically this bull was not 
regarded as operative in England. From the time of 
Edward I the policy had been established in English law, 
that it was not competent for the Bishop of Rome to in- 
terfere with the authority of the Crown. No earthly 
power could stand between God and the Crown. By the 
statute of prcemunirey in the reign of Richard II, it was de- 
clared that " the Crown of England hath been at all times 
so free that it hath no earthly sovereign, but is immediately 
subject to God, and to none other, in all things touching 
the regality of the said Crown. " It was therefore regarded 
in England that property in new lands, discovered by 
English navigators, was vested in the Crown, a papal bull 
to the contrary notwithstanding. The doctrine of the 
right to occupy new lands is set forth by Bracton, chief 
justiciary in the reign of Henry III, in his work on the 



88 Roger Williams 

laws of England, De Legihus et Consuetudinibus Anglice: 
Si autem insula in mari nata sit (quod raro accidit), 
occupantus Jit. Although this doctrine, in its terms, ap- 
plies to islands in mari natoe^ by volcanic ^force, or other 
operations of nature, it was held to apply with equal force 
to islands newly discovered. The exclusive right of Spain 
and Portugal to the lands of the New World was not, there- 
fore, recognized theoretically in England, by virtue of the 
declaration of the Holy See. But, although this doctrine 
and policy was well established in English jurisprudence, 
it is equally true that English custom in that age respected 
the rights of exploration of other, and especially of stronger 
nations. When therefore Cabot set sail, in 1497, from 
Bristol, he was commissioned by Henry VII "to sail to 
the East, West, or North, with five ships carrying the 
English flag, to seek and discover all the islands, countries, 
regions, or provinces of pagans, in whatever part of the 
world." It is noticeable that, in this commission, a souther- 
ly course was excluded, from which it may be inferred that 
it was not desired to come in conflict with any of the rights 
acquired by the nations of the Iberian peninsula. Al- 
though an important English authority* would have us 
understand that this careful respect for the rights of Spain 
and Portugal had its source in an English sense of moral 
responsibility, it is well not to forget that, in the fifteenth 
century, the nation of England was a weakling in com- 
parison with Spain. The disregard which England, in 
modern times, has shown for the rights of other nations, 
as gained in the exploration of new lands, will, perhaps, 
justify us in making a comparison between the navies of 
Henry VII and of Ferdinand. 

Notwithstanding the English doctrine which, in theory, 



^Edward John Payne, History of the New World called America^ i, 244. 



'A Political Pioneer 89 

repudiated the papal bull, as valid against English right 
of exploration and settlement in the New World, it is cer- 
tain that no effort was made to follow up the discoveries 
of John Cabot. It was not until after the actual repudia- 
tion, by Henry VIIT, of all control by the papal power, and 
the divorce of that monarch from his Spanish wife, that 
any serious movement at discoveries in the New World 
was made by England; and it was not until after the death 
of catholic Mary, and the accession of protestant Elizabeth 
that the first attempts at colonization were made. 

Although the passion of adventure had seized the English y- 
mind, and numerous voyages were made, in the hope of 
discovering new routes to the Indies, the reign of Henry, 
of Mary, of Elizabeth and of James had passed, without 
the establishment of any successful English colonies on 
the American coast. The tlu-ee ventures of Sir Humphrey 
Gilbert, in 1578, 1579,and 1583; that of Sir Walter Raleigh, 
in 1584, and of Sir Richard Grenville at Roanoke, in 1585 
were all wretched failures; and the mystery of Croatan 
is yet unsolved. Gosnold's feeble attempt at settlement 
on the little group of islands at the mouth of Buzzard's 
Bay, which still bear his name, in their township title, 
came to an end almost before it had a beginning. The 
ruins at Jamestown are a pathetic reminder of that feeble 
colony which promised so much, but which yielded so 
little fruit. The persistent attempts of Gorges and Mason 
and Popham, on the New England coast had been utterly 
futile. When, therefore, Charles I saw with pleasure 
that two flourishing English colonies had been planted 
in New England, and bade fair to take a firm root and grow 
luxuriantly, he had probably but little sympathy with 
those who, through jealousy, and for the sake of accomplish- / 

ing a personal revenge, would cause them also to fail. 

More than this, Charles no doubt remembered that by 



90 Roger Williams 

the charter which he had granted to the Massachusetts 
Bay Colony, a few years before, he had expressly provided 
that it should 

be lawful to and for the chief commanders, governors and officers 
of said company for the time being, who shall be resident in the 
said part of New England in America, . . . from time to time 
and at all times hereafter, for their special defence and safety, 
to encounter, expulse, repel, and resist by force of arms, as well 
by sea as by land and by all fitting ways and means whatever, 
all such person and persons as shall at any time hereafter, attempt 
or enterprise the destruction, invasion, detriment or annoyance 
to the said plantation or inhabitants. 

It was by the authority thus given that the colonists 
purged themselves, whenever it was considered necessary, 
of all obnoxious persons, whose presence among them was 
regarded as harmful to the body politic. 

It is useful, before leaving this portion of our subject, 
to record the final result of this assault upon the charter, 
so far as concerns the fortunes of Thomas Morton. It is 
certain that he returned to Massachusetts for the second 
time, some years after the failure of the machinations of 
Gorges and Mason, in which he played such an active 
part. Under date of March 9, 1644, Governor Winthrop 
makes this record: 

1644, March 9 — At the Court of Assistants Thomas Morton 
was called forth presently after the lecture that the country might 
be satisfied of the justice of our proceeding against him. There 
was laid to his charge his complaint against us at the council 
board, which he denied. Then we produced the copy of the 
bill exhibited by Sir Christopher Gardiner, etc., wherein he 
was named as a party or witness. He denied that he had any 
hand in the information, only was called as a witness. To con- 
vince him to be the principal party it was showed: 

1 : That Gardiner had no occasion to complain against us for 



A Political Pioneer 91 

he was kindly used and dismissed in peace, professing much 
engagement for the great courtesy he found here. 

2: Morton had set forth a book against us and had threatened 
us and had prosecuted a quo warranto against us, which he did 
not deny. 

3: His letter was produced, written soon after to Mr. Jeffrey 
[one of the old planters] his old acquaintance and intimate friend, 
in these words: 

The full text of the letter is recorded by the governor, 
in which, in a style satirical and somewhat following that 
of the New English Canaan, Morton related the story of 
his attack on the colony before the council. In allusion 
to the Ratcliffe affair Morton says: — 

And as for Ratcliffe he was comforted by their lordships with 
the cropping of Mr. Winthrop's ears, which shows what opinion 
is held amongst them of King Winthrop, with all his inventions 
and his Amsterdam fantastical ordinances, his preachings, 
marriages, and other abusive ceremonies, which do exemplify his 
detestation to the Church of England, and the contempt of his 
Majesty's authority and wholesome laws which are and will 
be established in those parts. 

May 10, 1634. 

Winthrop adds to his record: 

Having been kept in prison about a year in expectation of 
further evidence out of England, he was again called before the 
court and after some debate what to do with him, he was fined 
100 pounds and set at liberty. He was a charge to the country 
for he had nothing, and we thought not fit to inflict corporal 
punishment upon him, being old and crazy, but thought better 
to fine him and give him his liberty, as if it had been to procure 
his fine, but indeed to leave him opportunity to go out of the 
jurisdiction, as he did soon after and went to Acomenticus and 
living there poor and despised, he died within two years after.* 



'Winthrop, ii, 232. 



CHAPTER VI 

The assumption by Hawthorne that the occasion of 
the mutilation of the colors at Salem by Mr. Endecott 
was the reception of the news that a governor-general 
was to be appointed, who should establish the rule of the 
Church of England in the colony was, perhaps, after all 
not wholly fanciful. It is undeniable that, at this time, a 
demand was made upon the colony for the surrender of 
the charter. At whose instigation this demand was made is 
not decisively known ; but one may readily believe that our 
old acquaintances Gorges, Gardiner, Morton and Ratcliffe, 
although they had signally failed in their endeavor two 
years before, would not easily be persuaded to abandon 
their purpose of breaking up the colony. This second 
attempt was very nearly successful, and was thwarted only 
through the good judgment and shrewd management of 
the governor and his council of advisors, as appears by a 
record made by Governor Winthrop, in June, 1634, only 
a month later than the date of Morton's letter just quoted. 
The governor wrote: 

Mr. Cradock wrote to the governor and assistants and sent 
a copy of the council's order whereby we were required to send 
over our patent. Upon long consultation whether we should 
return answer or not, we agreed and returned answer to Mr. 
Cradock, excusing that it could not be done but by a general 
court, which was to be holden in September next.* 

By means of this shrewd management the colonists 
succeeded in gaining several months of time. When the 



»Winthrop, i, 163. 



A Political Pioneer 93 

General Court convened in the following September, how- 
ever, they discovered that their enemies at court had no 
idea of abandoning their plans. The movement in England 
for the overthrow of the political and religious liberty of 
the colonists is best told in the words of the governor: 

1634, Sept. 18. — The Griffin and another ship now arriving 
with about two hundred passengers and one hundred cattle. . . 
there came over a copy of the commission granted to the two 
archbishops^ and ten others of the council, to regulate all plan- 
tations, and power given them to call in all patents, to make 
laws, to raise tythes and portions for ministers, to remove and 
punish governors, and to hear and determine all causes and 
inflict all punishments, even death itself. This being advised 
by ourselves to be especially intended for us, and that there 
were ships and soldiers provided, given out as for the carrying 
of the new governors and the discipline of the Church of England 
and the law of the commissioners — occasioned the magistrates 
and deputies to hasten our fortifications and to discover our 
minds to each other.^ 

It was plain to the minds of the colonists now, that King 
Charles had yielded to the importunities of the enemies 
of the colony and that he was far less friendly towards 
it than formerly. The young colony had passed beyond 
the stage of a mere experiment. It now numbered fully 
four thousand souls and no fewer than twenty villages had 
sprung up upon the shores, and in the immediate vicinity, 
of the Bay. The farms were beginning to become pro- 
ductive and large herds of cattle were grazing in the fields 
and meadows. The commerce of the colony, in fish, 
lumber and furs was beginning to be considerable. In 
addition to this numerical and financial strength, which 
no doubt excited and increased the jealousy of Gorges 



\y 



^Canterbury and York. 
^Winthrop, i, 171. 



94 Roger Williams 

and his followers and adherents, the attitude of the colony 

in matters ecclesiastical had begun to attract the attention 
of Charles and of Archbishop Laud. There was a reign 
of terror in England for all dissenters, and many were pay- 
ing the penalty of non-conformity with their lives. The 
Puritan settlers of Massachusetts Bay had little sjmpathy 
with the doctrines of the Separatists, and this was well 
understood, at the outset, by Charles; and yet they, by 
the very act of withdrawing from England, settling in a 
new country, and adopting the congregational mode in 
ordination and church government, had actually become 
Separatists. The king and his henchman. Laud, there- 
fore, beheld the spectacle of an English colony planted in 
New England, full of vigor and life, and imbued with 
ideas and doctrines which were, in effect, a denial of the 
claims and demands of the king and of the archbishop. 
The growing strength of the Puritan element in England, 
however, and the attention which it demanded at home, 
no doubt served to distract the attention of the king and 
his counsellors, in some degree, from the non-conformist 
colony across the sea. The appointment of a governor- 
general w^as not made when it was at first threatened, but 
was delayed until two years later. The colonists were 
therefore spared, at this time, a resort to open rebellion 
by force of arms. They did not, however, relax their 
vigilance, for they evidently felt that at any time the blow 
might fall. In the records of the colony ample proof 
exists that the colonists not only continued their prepara- 
tions for defence against a possible attack by a military 
force, but also that they pushed these preparations with 
all haste. At the meeting of the General Court, on the 
fourth day of March, 1634, it was ordered 
" that the ffort att Castle Hand, nowe begun, shalbe fullv 
pfected, the ordinances mounted & eny other thing aboute it 



'A Political Pioneer 95 

ffinished, before any other fortificacion be further proceeded in,"* 

At the same session it was further ordered 
that there shalbe forthwith a beacon sett on the sentry hill att 
Boston, to giue notice to the country of any danger & that there 
shalbe a ward of one pson kept there from the first of Aprill to 
the last of Septr & that upon the discoury of any danger the 
beacon shalbe fired, an allarum given, as also messengers 
presently sent by that towne where the danger is discoued to 
all other townes within this jurisdicion.^ 

The antiquarian finds pleasure in tracing to this act 
of the General Court, and to the erection of the beacon 
which promptly followed, the name which still attaches 
to Boston's capitoline hill. 

Not only were these fortifications commanding the 
harbor hurried to completion, but companies of militia 
were formed and forced to drill with regularity and fre- 
quency. Absentees from drill were forced to pay a fine, 
and the moneys thus received were employed in the pur- 
chase of arms and equipments. In addition to these pre- 
cautions, the governor and a committee of magistrates and 
others were appointed by the General Court, to constitute 
a board of military affairs. This board was authorized to 
appoint and remove military oflicers; to "dispose of all 
companyes;'* to maintain discipline; to see that trainings 
were observed; and to order out troops whenever occasion 
demanded. 

Later in the same session of the General Court, as if 
fearful that all possible had not been done for the public 
defence it was "Ordered; that the deputy gounr, overseer 
of the ffortification att Castle Ileland, shall haue power 
topresse men for that worke, for soe long a tyme as in 



'Records i, 136. 
'Records i, 137. 



96 Roger Williams 

his discrecon, hee shall thinke meete, notwithstanding 
the former order in Septr to the contrary."* 

It was at this same session of the court that the act of 
Endecott, in defacing the colors at Salem, was first re- 
ported to the magistrates and deputies. Doubtless, in 
the commission of this act by an influential magistrate 
of the colony, and the apprehension lest information con- 
cerning it should reach England, the colonists saw added 
cause for fear that this second attack upon the charter 
might prove successful. Hence, resolved to resist to the 
uttermost any attempt which the mother country might 
make to dispossess them by force, they were making all 
speed to complete the projected harbor defences, and 
otherwise prepare themselves for the crisis which seemed 
imminent. 

Such was the critical condition of the political affairs 
of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, at the period which 
we are considering. Who was the "indiscrete person," 
who had written letters against the church government 
in England, and despatched them by the hand of Cap- 
tain Leavitt, is unknown. There is no actual proof that 
it was Roger Williams; although we know that he had 
written a treatise upon this subject, which was made the 
topic of some discussion, and which he afterwards re- 
tracted and offered to be burnt. He was at Plymouth 
when these letters went astray, through the death of the 
captain at sea, and by this mischance fell into the hands 
of the enemies of the colony in England. It cannot be 
doubted that the author of these letters was some person 
of distinctly Separatist tendencies; but such persons were 
by no means rare among the colonists, especially at Salem. 
It was almost immediately after the first assault upon the 



^Records, i, 139. 



A Political Pioneer 97 

charter that Williams removed from Plymouth to Salem. 
As has been seen, his attack upon the right of the king to 
grant a patent, was first made in the winter of 1633, or 
but a few months after the reception of the first news 
from England, concerning the assault of Gorges and his 
friends upon the charter. Indeed, the attack of Roger 
Williams upon the integrity of the patent was almost 
simultaneous with the arrival of the William and 
Jane, and the Mary and Jane, which brought more 
minute details concerning the movements of Gorges, 
and their results, than had been brought by the ship 
William, which had arrived in the previous Feb- 
ruary. In short, the validity of the charter was at- 
tacked at once from without and from within. The col- 
ony's enemies in England were seeking its revocation, 
upon the ground that the colonists were intending rebellion 
and were seeking to cast off their allegiance and be wholly 
separate from Church and State. The colony's enemy 
at home — for so the magistrates could not fail to regard 
him — was not only teaching separation, which was then, 
by tradition from the days of Elizabeth, regarded as vir- 
tually an attack upon the throne itself, but he was, in his 
attack upon the patent, as before suggested, attacking at 
the same time the royal prerogative. Indeed Williams 
had openly declared the king to have told "a solemn public 
lie, because, in his patent, he blessed God that he was the 
first christian prince that had discovered the land."* 

When, therefore, the charge was made before the king 
and council that the "ministers and people did continually 
rail against the State, church and bishops," the charge, 
so far, indeed, as it applied to the teacher at Salem, could 



»Wintlirop, i, 145.» 



98 Roger Williams 

not truthfully be denied. But that this Swas not correct 
regarding the ministers and people generally, the records 
afford ample proof; and one may not improperly conclude 
that this is the correct interpretation of Winthrop's par- 
enthetical record, that the charges of Mason and Gorges 
included "some truths misrepeated. " 

The assault of Williams upon the royal prerogative was, 
perhaps, the most serious of the offences against the crown, 
included in his attack upon the patent. In time of Charles 
I and, indeed, until the abrogation of the right, in the reign 
of Queen Anne, the royal prerogative included the right 
to alienate crown lands at pleasure. On account of the 
improvident alienations of land by William III, the crown 
was deprived of this right by statute, early in the reign 
of Anne. But when Roger Williams was fulminating in 
the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, against the right of 
King Charles to grant a patent to lands in New England, 
the royal prerogative, in this respect, was in full force and 
was absolute. As a matter of course, the contentions of 
Williams were upon moral and ethical, rather than upon 
legal, grounds; and, yet, so were, in all respects, the con- 
tentions of the Separatists. This distinction, however, 
did not serve to deliver some of the sect in England from 
the fires, nor did it deliver others from distressing imprison- 
ment. It would not have sufficed to have delivered Roger 
Williams, had he been within the reach of Archbishop 
Laud; it did not suffice to render the colonists free from 
opposition, distress and apprehension. 



CHAPTER VII 

It was less than a year after Mr. Williams had taken up 
his life in Salem that Mr. Skelton, the pastor of the Salem 
church, died, and the church was thus left without a head. 
This event occurred in August, 1634. Despite the re- 
monstrance which the governor and other magistrates 
had registered against similar action in 1631, and despite 
the turmoil which had been created by Mr. Williams' 
assault upon the patent, and still more recently by his 
attack upon the freeman's oath, the Salem church again 
called him to the office of teacher. As we have already 
seen, in November, 1634, had been held that hastily 
called special meeting of the governor and assistants, at 
which the matter of the mutilation of the colors had been 
considered, and also the report had been made that Will- 
iams had broken his promise to the magistrates, and had 
resumed his attack upon the king's patent. 

At a meeting of the governor and assistants, held on 
the second day of April, 1635, Mr. Williams was requested 
to present himself. The ministers of the colony were 
also present, doubtless by invitation. At this meeting 
Mr. Williams was called upon to justify recent teachings 
as touching the right of the magistrates,'from a theological 
point of view, to tender an oath to an unregenerate man. 
The governor thus records the occurrence: — 

1635, Mo. 2, 30. — The governour and assistants sent for Mr. 
Williams. The occasion was for that he had taught publickly 
that a magistrate ought not to tender an oath to an unregenerate 
man, for that we thereby have communion with a wicked man 
in the worship of God and .cause him to take the name of God 



100 Roger Williams 

in vain. He was heard before all the ministers and very clearly 
confuted. Mr. Endecott was at first of the same opinion, but 
he gave place to the truth. ^ 

The next meeting of the General Court, at which 
meeting Williams had been summoned to appear and 
answer to the charge made against him, was held on the 
eighth day of July, 1635. Governor Winthrop's record 
of this meeting is full and interesting: — 

1635, Mo. 5, 8:[JuIy 8]— At the general court Mr. Williams 
of Salem was summoned and did appear. It was laid to his 
charge that being under question before the magistracy and 
churches for divers dangerous opinions, viz: 

1. That the magistrate ought not to punish the breach of the 
first table, otherwise than in such cases as did disturb the civil 
peace; 

2. That he ought not to tender an oath to an unregenerate 
man; 

3. That a man ought not to pray with such, though wife, 
child, etc.; 

4. That a man ought not to give thanks after the sacrament, 
nor after meat, etc., and that the other churches were about to 
write to the church of Salem, to admonish him of these errors; 
notwithstanding the church had since called him to the oflSce 
of teacher. 

Much debate was about these things. The said opinions were 
adjudged by all, magistrates and ministers (who were desired to 
be present) to be erroneous and very dangerous, and the calling 
of him to office, at that time, was judged a great contempt of 
authority. So, in fine, time was given to him and the church 
of Salem to consider of these things till the next General Court, 
and then either to give satisfaction to the court, or else to expect 
the sentence; it being professedly declared by the ministers, 
(at the request of the court to give their advice) that he should 
obstinately maintain such opinions, (whereby a church might 



^Winthrop, i, 157. 



A Political Pioneer 101 

run into heresy, apostasy, or tyranny and yet the civil magistrate 
could not intermedle,) were to be removed, and that the other 
churches ought to request the magistrates so to do.* 

This action of the General Court does not appear to 
have disturbed him against whom it was directed, for, 
under date of August 16, 1635, Governor Winthrop re- 
cords : — 

1635, Aug. 16 — Mr. Williams, pastor of the church at Salem, 
being sick and not able to speak, wrote to his church a protesta- 
tion that he could not communicate with the churches in the 
Bay; neither would he communicate with them except they 
would refuse to communicate with the rest; but the whole church 
was grieved therewith.^ 

Mr. Williams now determined upon an heroic mea- 
sure. The magistrates, with a view, no doubt, of ad- 
ministering some sharp discipline to the Salem church, 
for insisting upon retaining the services of a minister 
who was regarded as a marplot, refused to set off to 
that church "a parcel of land which lay commodious 
for their affairs," a grant of which the church had pray- 
ed for.^ 

Mr. Williams, vexed at this, and willing also to set the 
magistrates at defiance, prevailed upon the Salem church 
to address letters to such of the other churches of the 
colony as included members of the magistracy in their 
membership. These letters set forth the claim that these 
magistrate members had committed * 'scandalous injus- 
tice" and deserved to be disciplined therefor. 

The flint was now striking against the steel, and the 
sparks filled the air. The General Court resented this 



^Winthrop, i, 193. 
'Winthrop, i, 198. 
*Magnalia Christi Americana, i, 497. 



102 Roger Williams 

combined act of Williams and the Salem church. By 
vote of the Court the Salem deputies were temporarily 
deprived of their seats in that body, and were "sent back 
to the ffreemen of their towne that sent them, to fetch 
satisfaccon for their Ires, sent to the seurall churches, 
wherein they have exceedingly repched & viHfyed the 
magistrates & deputys of the General Court, or els the 
arguments of those that will defend the same with the 
subscripcon of their names."* 

Governor Winthrop makes this record of this oc- 
currence: — 

1635, Mo. 5, 12. — Salem now had preferred a petition, at the 
last General Com-t, for some land in Marblehead Neck, which 
they did challenge as belonging to their town; but because they 
had chosen Mr. Williams their teacher, while he stood under 
question of authority and so offered contempt to the magis- 
trates, &c., their petition was refused till, &c. Upon this the 
church of Salem write to other churches to admonish the magis- 
trates of this as a heinous sin, and likewise the deputies; for 
which, at the next General Court, their deputies were not re 
ceived until they should give satisfaction about the letter.'^ 

Mr. Endecott, who evidently acted as spokesman of 
the Salem delegation, defended the action of the Salem 
church, and protested against this action. The General 
Court, now thoroughly aroused, promptly declared Mr. 
Endecott to be in contempt and ordered his commitment 
until he should purge himself. He, however, with equal 
promptness, made his submission, acknowledging his 
offence and apologizing therefor, and was released.^ 

This exciting incident being over, the General Court 
returned to the matter under consideration, and resolved 



^Records, i, 156. 
^Winthrop, i, 164. 
^Records, i, 156. 



A Political Pioneer 103 

that if the majority of the freemen of Salem should "dis- 
claime the Ires sent lately from the church of Salem to 
seuall churches," the ban should be removed and the 
deputies should be allowed to resume their seats in the 
General Court. 

Having thus settled matters with the church and people 
of Salem, the General Court turned its attention to Mr. 
Williams and proceeded to deal with him. The formal 
sentence of the court, as entered in the official records of 
the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, reads thus: 

Sept. 3, 1635. — Whereas Mr. Roger Williams, one of the 
elders of the church at Salem, hath broached & dyvulged dyvers 
newe and dangerous opinions, against the aucthority of magis- 
trates, as also writ Ires of defamacon, both of the magistrates 
& churches here, & that before any conviccon & yet maine- 
taineth the same without retraccon, it is therefore ordered that 
the same Mr. Williams shall dpte out of this jm*isdiccon within 
six weeks nexte ensueing, wch if hee neglect to pforme, it shalbe 
lawfull for the gounr & two of the magistrates to send him to 
some place out of this jurisdiccon, not to returne any more with- 
out licence from the court.* 

Immediately following this record is inserted this 
summons, addressed to one of the ruling elders of the 
Salem church: — 

Mr. Samuel Sharpe [who had joined with Williams in signing 
the letters] is enioyned to appeare att the nexte pticular court 
to answere for the Ire that came from the church at Salem, as 
also to bring the names of those that will iustifie the same, or 
els to acknowledge his offence vnder his owne hand for his owne 
pticular.^ 

The record made by Governor Winthrop will best serve 
to tell his story of this exciting and important episode: — 



^Records, i, 160. 
Ubid, i, 161. 



104 Roger Williams 

1635, October. — At this General Court Mr. Williams, the 
teacher at Salem, was again convented and all the ministers 
in the Bay being desired to be present, he was charged with the 
said two letters, — that to the churches, complaining of the magis- 
trates of injustice, extreme oppression, etc., and the other to his 
own church, to persuade them to renounce communion with all 
the churches in the Bay, as full of anti-christian pollution, etc. 
He justified both these letters and maintained all his opinions; 
and being offered further conference or disputation and a month's 
respite he chose to dispute presently. So Mr. Hooker was ap- 
pointed to dispute with him, but could not reduce him from any 
of his errors. So, the next morning the court sentenced him to 
depart out of our jurisdiction within six weeks, all the ministers, 
save one, approving the sentence; and his own church had him 
under question also for the same cause; and he, at his return 
home, refused communion with his own church, who openly 
disclaimed his errors, and wrote a humble submission to the 
magistrates, acknowledging their fault in joining with Mr. 
Williams in that letter to the churches against them.^ 

One passage at arms between Williams and Hooker, is 
worthy of record, as showing the method of argument in 
vogue at that day. During the trial of Williams, he com- 
plained in open court, that he was wronged by a slander- 
ous report, that he held it unlawful for a father to call 
upon his child to eat his meat. Mr. Hooker, then present, 
replied, *'Why! you will say as much again if you stand 
to your own principles, or be driven to say nothing at 
all." Mr. Williams expressing his confidence that he 
should never say it, Mr. Hooker proceeded: 

" If it be unlawful to call an unregenerate person to pray, 
since it is an action of God's worship, then it is unlawful for 
your unregenerate child to pray for a blessing upon his own 
meat. If it be unlawful for him to pray for a blessing upon his 



»Winthrop, i, 204. 



A Political Pioneer 105 

meat, it is unlawful for him to eat it; for it is sanctified by prayer, 
and without prayer unsanctified: (I Tim: iv, 4, 5.) If it be 
unlawful for him to eat it, it is unlawful for you to call upon 
him to eat it, for it is unlawful for you to call upon him to sin." 
Hereupon M. Williams chose to hold his peace, rather than to 
make any answer.^ 

It is a matter of no importance to the narrative, but yet 
one of some human interest, to recall the fact that, in 
the matter of controversy, Mr. Hooker and Mr. Williams 
were old antagonists; for does not the reader remember 
the historic ride of Williams, in company with John 
Cotton and Thomas Hooker, to and from Sempringham, 
the three discoursing and arguing by the way concerning 
the Book of Common Prayer ? 

The summary proceedings of the General Court appear 
to have had their effect upon the Salem church, so that 
it awoke to realize that much of the teaching to which 
they had listened and had subscribed was tending to 
bring the colony into serious conflict with the king and 
his privy council. The church, therefore, receded from 
the position which it had assumed, of antagonism towards 
the magistrates. This retraction on the part of the church 
was not met with equanimity by Mr. Williams, and he 
sharply demanded that his church should withdraw from 
all communion with the churches of the Bay. But his 
influence, potent as it was, was not suflScient to effect this 
result. Deeply chagrined, Mr. Williams then renounced 
communion with the Salem church, as well as with the 
other churches of the colony, and established a service 
of preaching in his own house. To these exercises none 
were admitted save those few who still adhered to his 
fortunes. Even his wife, who persisted in attending the 



^Magnalia Christi Americana, ii, 498. 



106 Roger Williams 

services of the church was excluded from these secret 
minisirations. Of this episode in the career of this re- 
markable man Cotton Mather made this record: — 

The neighbouring churches, both by petition and messengers* 
took such happy pains with the church at Salem as presently 
recovered that flock to a sense of his aberrations; which Mr. 
Williams perceiving, though he had a little before bragged that 
"of all the churches in the world those of New England were 
the purest; and of all in New England that whereof himself was 
the teacher;" yet he now, staying at home, sent unto the church 
of Salem then assembled, a letter to give them notice' "that if 
they would not separate as well from the churches of New Eng- 
land as of Old, he would separate from them." His more con- 
siderate church not yielding to these lewd proposals, he never 
would come to their assemblies any more; no, nor uold any 
com union in any exercise of religion with any person, so much 
as his own wife, that went up unto their assemblies; but at the 
same time he kept a meeting in his own house, whereto resorted 
such as he had infected with his extravagances.* 

And so the die vi^as cast, and it was determined to take 
advantage of the provision of the charter of the colony 
which, as we have already seen, allowed the magistrates 
to "expulse and repel by all fitting ways and means what- 
soever all such person and persons as shall at any time 
hereafter attempt or enterprise the detriment or annoyance 
to the said plantation or its inhabitants. " 

And yet, the General Court of the Bay Colony cannot 
be regarded as having acted hastily in the case of Roger 
Williams. On the contrary on account, no doubt, of 
his many estimable qualities and his excellent personal 
character, they had acted with the greatest moderation 
and caution. 

The court, about a year before they proceeded unto the ban- 



^Magnalia Christi Americana, i, 496, 497. 



A Political Pioneer 107 

ishment of this incendiary, (writes Cotton Mather,) sent for the 
pastors of the neighbouring churches to intimate unto them 
their design of thus proceeding against him; which yet they 
were loth to do, before they had advised the elders of it, because 
he was himself an elder. Mr. Cotton, with the consent of the 
other ministers, presented a request unto the magistrates that 
they would please to forbear prosecuting of him, till they them- 
selves, with their churches had, in a church way, endeavored 
his conviction and repentance; for they alledged that they hoped 
his violences proceeded rather from a misguided conscience 
than from a seditious principle. The governor foretold unto 
them, "You are deceived in the man if you think he will con- 
descend to learn of any of you;" however, the proposal of the 
ministers was approved and allowed. But several of the churches 
having taken the best pains they could, tho' they happily brought 
the church of Salem to join with them in dealing with the man, 
vet the effect was that he renounced them all as no churches of 
our Lord Jesus Christ. Whereupon the court ordered his 
removal out of the jurisdiction.* 

It must be understood also that the case of Mr. 
Williams did not stand alone in punishment administered 
for what was regarded as seditious utterance. Some 
months previous to the banishment of Williams, the 
case of Israel Stoughton had been brought before the 
court and had attracted no little attention. The record 
reads : — 

Whereas Mr. Israel Stoughton hath written a certain booke 
wch hath occasioned much trouble and offence to the court, the 
sd Mr. Stoughton did desire of the court that sd booke might 
forthwith be burnt as being weake and offensiue.'' 

This submission on the part of the offender did not, 
however, serve to relieve him of the consequences of his 



^Magnalia Christi Americanay i, 497. 
^Records, i, 135. 



108 Roger Williams 

indiscretion; for at the same session of the General Court 
sentence was pronounced upon him, as follows: — 

It is ordered that Mr. Israel Stoughton shalbe disenabled 
for bearing any publ office in the comonwealth within this 
jurisdiccon for the space of three years, for affirmeing the Assis- 
tants were noe magistrates.^ 

At the same session of the Court at which Williams 
was banished, we find by the records that one John Smyth, 
"for dyvers dangerous opinions wch hee holdeth & hath 
dyvulged," was also ordered to depart from the limits 
of the colony within the six weeks next ensuing.^ 

But Mr. Williams did not at once take his departure 
from the limits of the colony, in obedience to the command 
of the Great and General Court. The winter was ap- 
proaching, and Mr. Williams' health was none of the best. 
Whether he requested a stay of his sentence until spring, 
or whether the privilege was granted by the magistrates 
as an act of courtesy, or perhaps of mercy, cannot be 
determined. That the birth of a child to him was at 
this time anticipated is beyond doubt. That his sentence 
was suspended is undoubtedly true, and this upon the 
tacit, if not actually expressed, understanding that he 
should refrain, in the interim, from further promulgating 
those ideas which had proved so obnoxious, and which 
had so nearly resulted, by their open publication, in 
disrupting the colony. To publish these ideas was, how- 
ever, with him a matter of conscience — or of self-will — for 
he continued to do so without cessation. It soon be- 
came known that he was accustomed to gather together 
congregations at his own house at Salem, to whom he ^ 
continued to inveigh against the king's charter. It is quite 



'Ibid, i, 136. 
''Ibid, i. 159. 



A Political Pioneer 109 

probable that, had he confined himself to theology alone, the 
magistrates, making wry faces perhaps, might neverthe- 
less have refrained from enforcing their sentence. But 
that he should continue to attack the patent, and, 
moreover, should attempt to create schism in the body 
politic, and thus still further endanger the permanency 
of their charter, was not to be endured. To have tempted 
the Salem church to withdraw from fellowship and com- 
munion with the other churches of the Bay was to tempt 
them to secede from political union with the colony (thus 
in some measure anticipating the events of 1861.) 

It was then determined, at a meeting of the governor 
and assistants held in the ensuing January, that he should 
be sent to England (as had been other malcontents) in a 
ship that was about to sail. This determination was 
reached the more readily, since the rumor was spread 
abroad that Mr. Williams had drawn about twenty per- 
sons to his opinions, and that he was planning to lead 
them out of the Bay Colony into the Narragansett country 
there to erect a plantation. It was feared that, were this 
done, "the infection would easily spread into these 
churches.'* 

A summons was first sent to him to come to Boston; 
but he pleaded illness and declined to obey the summons. 
Captain John Underbill — the same who had taken Sir 
Christopher Gardiner, a few years before, under arrest 
from Plymouth to Boston — was despatched in a sail- 
boat to Salem, with orders to apprehend Williams and 
place him on board a vessel bound for England, then 
lyirg at Nantasket Roads. But when Underbill and his 
party reached the dwelling of Williams at Salem, they 
found that he had fled three days before. Whither he 
had gone they were not able to learn. Winthrop thus 
records the occurrence: 



110 Roger Williams 

11 Mo., Jan. 1635. — ^The governour and assistants met at 
Boston to consider about Mr. Williams, for they were credibly 
informed that, notwithstanding the injunction laid upon him 
(upon the liberty granted him to stay till the spring) not to go 
about to draw others to his opinions, he did use to entertain 
company in his house and to preach to them, even of such points 
as he had been censured for; and it was agreed to send him into 
England, by a ship then ready to depart. The reason was be- 
cause he had drawn above twenty persons to his opinions, and 
they were intended to erect a plantation about the Narragansett 
Bay, from whence the infection would easily spread into these 
churches, (the people being, many of them much taken with the 
apprehension of his godliness). Whereupon a warrant was sent 
to him to come presently to Boston, to be shipped, etc. He 
returned answer (and divers of Salem came with it) that he 
could not come without hazard of his life, etc. Whereupon a 
pinnace was sent with commission to Capt. Underbill, etc., 
to apprehend him and carry him aboard the ship, (which then 
rode at Natascutt, [Nantasket]) but when they came at his home 
they found he had been gone three days before; but whither 
they could not learn. He had so far prevailed at Salem as many 
there (especially devout women) did embrace his opinions and 
separated from the churches for this cause, that some of their 
members, going into England, did hear the ministers there and 
when they came home the churches held communion with them.* 

This, then, was the close of the career of Roger Williams 
in the Bay Colony. It had been of but four years' dura- 
tion, but within that time the people of the Bay, who had 
left England mainly to escape from religious controversies, 
had found their lives scarcely more free from discussion 
and dissension than in the old country. The disputants 
upon the occasion of the famous ride to Sempringham 
were all in New England; and he who precipitated the 
controversy over the use of the Book of Common Prayer, 



^Winthrop, i, 209. 



A Political Pioneer 111 

was ever ready with fresh causes of dispute. His lance 
was ever poised in its rest; and, whether the question was 
one involving the most serious poHtical considerations, 
or one concerning a trivial detail in woman's attire, the 
knight was ever ready with parry and thrust, to enforce 
his opinions against all the world. 

Roger Williams now disappears from the Colony of 
Massachusetts Bay and passes out of the life of its people. 
We shall see, however, that he was not forgotten, and 
that he was by many, and especially by Winthrop, held 
in high esteem for his many excellent personal qualities. 
Many friendly and even affectionate epistles passed be- 
tween the two men, during the years which followed. 
Williams, who was on terms of friendship with the Indians, 
several times, as we shall see, gave valuable information 
to Winthrop and through him to the Bay Colony, of in- 
tended hostilities, and enabled him to ward off approach- 
ing danger. But, notwithstanding this friendly inter- 
course, the Bay Colony preferred to lavish its affection 
upon Mr. Williams by letter, rather than by personal 
contact, and persistently, despite the request of influential 
friends, declined to abate by a single jot, the letter of its 
resolution of banishment. 



CHAPTER VIII 

The reader who has followed closely the career of Mr. 
Williams while in the colonies of Plymouth and Massa- 
chusetts Bay, can but be struck with one trait of char- 
acter which predominated all. This was the intense 
love of controversy and of forensic argument. Whatever 
was the subject which had been brought forward for dis- 
cussion, he was foremost among the disputants, excelling 
all others in the intensity of his argumentation. So fully 
did this trait dominate his character that neither his own 
personal well-being, nor the public welfare, served to check 
his impetuosity. It would appear from a careful con- 
sideration of all the circumstances connected with his 
final expulsion from the Bay Colony, that- it was not the 
fact that he held certain "newe and dangerous opinions,** 
but that he "broached and dyvulged" them, and that 
persistently, to the serious danger of the body politic, 
which caused the magistrates reluctantly to take the final 
action in his case. 

More than one hundred years after the escape of Roger 
Williams from Salem, to evade arrest at the hands of 
John Underhill, the wisest man then living in all England 
discussed among his friends, this selfsame point of po- 
litical ethics, and reached the same conclusion as did 
Winthrop and his Assistants. 

"" At a dinner at the house of Edward and Charles Dilly, 
booksellers, in London, in the year 1773, Dr. Samuel 
Johnson was the chief guest. About the board among 
others were seated Boswell, the future biographer; Oliver 
Goldsmith; Dr. Toplady, whose name has safe immor- 



A Political Pioneer 113 

tality in the hymn, "Rock of Ages"; and Dr. Mayo, a 
dissenting clergyman— truly a representative company. 
The subject of toleration was broached, and a discussion 
ensued, all present listening with interest to Dr. Johnson 
as he discoursed upon the theme. "Every society," 
said Johnson, "has a right to preserve public peace and 
order, and, therefore, has a good right to prohibit the 
propagation of opinions which have a dangerous tendency. 
To say the magistrate has this right is using an inadequate 
word; it is the society for which the magistrate is agent. 
He may be morally or theologically wrong in restraining 
the propagation of opinions which he thinks dangerous, 
but he is politically right." 

Said Dr. Mayo: "I am of opinion, sir, that every man 
is entitled to liberty of conscience in religion; and that 
the magistrate cannot restrain that right." 

"Sir, I agree with you," replied Dr. Johnson. "Every 
man has a right to liberty of conscience and with that 
the magistrate cannot interfere. People confound liberty 
of thinking with liberty of talking, nay, with liberty of 
preaching. Every man has a physical right to think as 
he pleases; for it cannot be discovered how he thinks. 
He has not a moral right, for he ought to inform himself 
and think justly. But, sir, no member of a society has 
a right to teach any doctrine contrary to what the society 
holds to be true. The magistrate, I say, may be wrong 
in what he thinks; but while he thinks himself right, 
he may and ought to enforce what he thinks." 

"But, sir, is it not very hard," argued Dr. Mayo, 
"that I should not be allowed to teach my children what 
I really believe to be the truth.?" 

"Why, sir," returned Johnson, "you might contrive 
to teach your children extra scandalum; but, sir, the 



114 Roger Williams 

magistrate, if he knows it, has a right to restrain you. 
Suppose you teach your children to be thieves. " 

"This is making a joke of the subject," remonstrated 
Dr. Mayo. 

"Nay, sir, take it thus," said Dr. Johnson, "that you 
teach them the community of goods; for which there are 
as many plausible arguments as for most erroneous 
doctrines. You teach them that all things at first were 
in common, and that no man had a right to anything but 
as he laid his hands upon it; and that this still is, or ought 
to be, the rule among mankind. Here, sir, you sap a 
great principle in society, — property. And don't you 
think the magistrate would have a right to prevent you ? 
Or, suppose you should teach your children the notion of 
the Adamites and they should run naked into the streets, 
would not the magistrate have a right to flog them into 
their doublets?" 

"I think," said Dr. Mayo, "the magistrate has no right 
to interfere till there is some overt act." 

"So, sir," interposed Boswell, "though he sees an 
enemy to the State charging a blunderbuss, he is not to 
interfere till it is fired off." 

"He must be sure of its direction against the State," 
insisted Dr. Mayo. 

"The magistrate is to judge of that," said Johnson. 
"If I think it right to steal Mr. Dilly's plate, I am a bad 
man; but he can say nothing to me. If I make an open 
declaration that I think so, he will keep me out of his 
house. If I put forth my hand I shall be sent to New- 
gate. This is the gradation of thinking, preaching and 
acting; if a man thinks erroneously, he may keep his 
thoughts to himself and nobody will trouble him; if he 
preaches erroneous doctrine, society may expel him; if 



j^ Political Pioneer 115 

he acts in consequence of it, the law takes place and he 
is hanged." 

"Sir," said Dr. Toplady, "you have untwisted this 
difficult subject with great dexterity,"^ ] 

Such, doubtless, were the arguments which Winthrop 
and the magistrates of the Bay employed in considering 
the case of Williams. A careful survey of all the cir- 
cumstances and a study of the political conditions at the 
time, can but assure the student that it was the political, 
far more than the religious, aspect of the case which 
created the chief alarm among the colonists, and pre- 
cipitated their final rupture with Williams. The Pilgrims 
of Plymouth were Separatists, and to them he resorted 
when he discovered that the people of the Bay were not 
in formal accord with this wing of English non-conformists. 
But, notwithstanding his agreement with the Plymouth 
brethren, touching their relations to the English church, 
he soon was at variance with them upon other points. 
Even the mild mannered Bradford, although recognizing 
his godliness and zeal, and his possession of "many pre- 
cious parts," lost his patience with Williams. He began, 
the governor tells us, "to fall into some strange opinions, 
and from opinion to practise. " It may be that Bradford, 
and the people of Plymouth, had Williams contented 
himself with cherishing his unusual opinions, and had 
refrained from "practise," might yet have borne with 
him. In so doing, they would have been in full agree- 
ment with the arguments of Dr. Johnson, advanced a 
century later. 

What were these strange opinions and practices with 
which he vexed the Plymouth brethren? Governor 
Bradford gives us no hint, neither does Nathaniel Morton, 



'Boswell's Life of Johnson, Geo. Birbeck Hill, ed. 1891, ii, 286, d seq. 



116 Roger Williams 

the secretary of the plantation, in his New England* 
Memorial. We must conclude that the differences be 
tween the church and him, which resulted from his pro- 
mulgation of his opinions, were chiefly religious and that 
his failure to lead them into the light, as he saw it, was 
the cause of his abrupt withdrawal from Plymouth. We 
know, however, that Mr. Williams prepared his treatise, 
in which he made his first attack upon the king's patent, 
during his sojourn at Plymouth; and it is not impossible 
that he may have made this attack public while there. 

At all events, removing to Salem, Williams almost im- 
mediately began an open attack upon the moral validity 
of the charter of the Bay Colony. Reproved for this, 
and shown the danger to the colony, which must neces- 
sarily follow the promulgation of such ideas, he at first 
expressed regret and assured the magistrates of the Bay 
that he had written the treatise only for the private satis- 
faction of the governor and others of Plymouth. He 
offered his treatise to be burnt, and promised to desist 
from the propagation of his opinions. 

But this promise was soon broken. He not only in- 
veighed, early and late, against the patent, but, when a 
disruption of the colony was threatened, and when it 
was feared that their foes might be those of their own 
household, he also attempted to create a feeling of discon- 
tent and opposition to the oath of fealty. 

In points of theological controversy, as well, Mr. 
Williams put himself at variance with the other ministers 
of the Bay Colony. In this he continued the habit formed 
while at Plymouth, or, as is probably true, he showed 
forth his natural character. Possessed of an even temper 
and a sweet disposition, he had also that anomalous 
characteristic, a disputatious spirit. He dearly loved 
controversy: he courted opposition. 



A Political Pioneer 117 

It is somewhat remarkable that, if we except Win- 
throp's announcement of his arrival, no allusion is made 
to Williams, by any of the colonial historians and annalists, 
save by way of recording what were regarded as vagaries. 
Winthrop of Boston, Bradford and Morton of Plymouth, 
and Hubbard of Ipswich, near Salem, substantially agree 
in their estimate of this man. And yet, disputatious as 
he was, Williams was in no wise of a quarrelsome dis- 
position. "We have often tried your patience," wrote 
Winthrop to Williams, years after, "but could never con- 
quer it."* Thus the governor of Massachusetts united 
with the governor of Plymouth in paying tribute to the 
excellent personal qualities of the man of whom, as mag- 
istrates, they could not approve. 

But although we can glean from the historians of the 
period, little or nothing concerning the life of Williams, 
save that he seems to have been constantly engaged in 
controversy, we learn from the writings of Williams him- 
self that he passed his time, both while at Plymouth and 
Salem, in religious exercises and in labor with his hands. 
Among the Indians, too, he labored, dwelling with them 
often in their homes, that he might have opportunity for 
learning their language, and so be enabled to preach to 
them the gospel. "God was pleased to give me a pain- 
ful patient spirit," he wrote, years after, in a communica- 
tion to the General Court in Providence, "to lodge with 
them in their filthy smoke holes, (even while I lived in 
Plymouth and Salem) to gain their tongue." And again, 
in the same paper he says: "My soul's desire was to 
do the natives good, and to that end to have their tongue. "^ 

He devoted attention also to the material as well as 



Troc. Mass. His. Soc. 1855-158, 314. 
^Rhode Island Historical Tracts, xiv, 53, 54. 



118 Roger Williams 

to the spiritual, and opened up, for his own account, an 
extensive trade with the natives, purchasing the pelts 
collected in the chase, and disposing of them to the English 
traders. This we learn from a letter written by him many 
years later, to Major Mason, wherein he recounts his 
troubles and his triumphs. "I was sorely tossed, for 
one fourteen weeks," he writes, "in a bitter winter season, 
not knowing what bread or bed did mean, beside the 
yearly loss of no small matter in my trading with English 
and natives, being debarred from Boston, the chief mart 
and port of New England. God knows that many thousand 
pounds cannot repay the very temporary losses I have 
sustained."* 

Two circumstances lead the student, however unwilling- 
ly, to suspect, in the study of the character of Williams, 
a shade of inconsistency, which had its origin in an illogical 
habit of thought. He attacked with vigor the oath of 
fealty, and, indeed, declared against all forms of oath, to 
which any unregenerate person should be a party; and 
yet we find, as already recorded, that he himself, in May, 
1631, had not scrupled to take the freeman's oath.^ It 
is to be urged, to be sure, that there was another settler 
named Roger Williams, an inhabitant of Dorchester, 
and it is not impossible, but entirely probable, that this 
may have been the man, and not his clerical contemporary, 
who was admitted to be a freeman. 

But a similar explanation cannot be urged, when we 
consider his long continued and persistent attack upon 
the validity of the colonists' title to the land upon which 
their homes had been built; and remember, that at the 
same time, he himself was the owner of a homestead estate 
in Salem. The shrewd man of business surely will not 



Tub. Nar. Club, vi, 336. 



A Political Pioneer 119 

accept the title-deeds of a piece of real property, the title 
to which he has reason to believe is clouded; neither 
would it seem, would a genuinely sincere critic of the 
moral validity of a royal patent, conveying title to a tract 
of land, consent to acquire for himself ownership in a 
portion of that land, the title to which should be gained 
through the holders of that patent. 

That Roger Williams was the owner of real property 
in Salem, prior to his departure from that town, is made 
certain in an extract from a letter to John Winthrop, 
written about two years subsequent to the settlement at 
Providence. 

Roger Williams to John Winthrop 

To his much honored Mr. Governor John Winthrop, 

Providence, [June, 1638] 

******* 

Secondly, a word in mine own particular, only for informa- 
tion. I owe between 50 and 60 H to Mr. Cradock for commodi- 
ties received from Mr. Mayhew. Mr. Mayhew will testify that 
(being Mr. Cradock's agent) he was content to take payment, 
what (and when) my house at Salem yielded: accordingly I long 
since put it into his hand and he into Mr. Jollies', who beside 
my voluntary act and his attachment since, sues as I hear for 
damages, which I questioned; since I have not failed against 
contract and content of the first agent, but the holy pleasure of 
the Lord be done; unto whose merciful arms (with all due 
respect) I leave you, wishing heartily that mercy and goodness 
may ever follow you and yours. Roger Williams. 

He makes further allusion to his ownership of real 
property in Salem in a letter written in the year 1677 and 
addressed to the commissioners of the respective colonies 
assembled at Providence, "I mortgaged my house and 



120 Roger Williams 

land at Salem," he wrote, "(with some hundredths) for 
supplies to go through. "» 

But it is not alone his personal ownership of a parcel 
of real estate, within the bounds covered by the patent, 
which suggests an illogical mind. The matter which 
well nigh led to a schism between the Salem church and 
the other churches of the Bay, was the refusal of the 
General Court to set off to the former a grant of land at 
Marblehead Neck; and it was this refusal which impelled 
Williams, in behalf of the Salem church to write to the 
other churches the letters of censure of the magistrates; 
which letters were the cause of the final rupture between 
Williams, the Salem church, and the magistracy of the 
Bay. Would not a perfectly logical mind have decided 
that, since the patent had been wrongfully granted, and 
should be surrendered back to the king, all grants of 
land, received under that patent were equally improper 
and sinful? The argument is certainly valid, that, if 
the colonists had wrongfully received a grant of land from 
the hand of the king, which land he had no right to alien- 
ate from the natives, then the grant of a portion of that 
land by the colony to an individual, or to a corporate 
body, could be founded upon no true title. 

The student of the character and career of Roger Will- 
iams cannot fail to perceive that, prior to his expulsion 
from the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, all of the con- 
troversies in which he engaged — if we may except his 
treatise against the patent, which was burned — were 
conducted orally, and were never committed to writing; 
after the removal from Salem and the foundation of the 
Providence Plantations, he had resort to the pen, and 
conducted a series of vigorous controversial writings, 



»R. I. Hist. Tracts, xvi, 52. 




Roger Williams' Dwelling at Salem, Mass. 
Later occupied by Judge Carwin, one of the judges in the witchcraft trials 



A Political Pioneer 121 

notably with John Cotton. Hence there is no record 
of his life in Plymouth and in Salem, save those which 
have already been considered; and in these no trace is 
found of the sentiments of liberty of conscience; of sepa- 
ration of Church and State; and of a lodgment in the 
people of true sources of human government — sentiments 
which are found in profusion in his writings, and which 
have served to place him upon the highest plane in states- 
manship. It was after his removal to wider fields, and 
among people who recognized his unquestioned leadership, 
that his mind expanded, and, building upon the foundation 
which he had already laid, clearing away the mists and 
vagaries which had obscured his vision, he erected a 
political edifice of beauty and grandeur which has now 
the admiration of all posterity, 
r The form of government adopted by the Bay colonists 
was unquestionably a pure theocracy. On the eighteenth 
of May, 1631, the General Court "ordered and agreed 
that for the time to come, no man shall be admitted to 
the freedom of the body politic, but such as are members 
of some of the churches within the limits of the same." 
This system was quite at variance with that established 
by Williams, in the colony of which he was afterward 
the founder, as we shall soon see. It was widely at vari- 
ance with the system of government adopted by the 
United States of America, a century and a half later. 
But if we except his contention that no power dwells in 
the magistrate to punish breaches of the first table of 
the decalogue, we nowhere find any trace prior to his ban- 
ishment, of his opposition to a theocratic form of govern- 
ment, which in after time, was so fully developed. The 
first table of the decalogue comprises five commands re- 
garding duties of man towards his Maker; the second in- 
cludes five regarding his duties toward his fellow man. 



122 Roger Williams 

Included among the first of these groups are the com- 
mands against profanity and Sabbath breaking, infraction 
of which are, even to the present day, by the Statutes 
of Massachusetts, regarded as misdemeanors. Mr. Will- 
iams, years after his banishment from the Bay, in dis- 
cussing the subject of government, wrote: 

By these New England ministers' principles, not only is the 
doore of calling to magistracy shut against naturall and unre- 
generate men, (though excellently fitted for civill offices) but 
also against the best and ablest servants of God, except they be 
entered into church estate, so that thousands of God's owne 
people (excellently qualified) not knowing, or not entring into 
such a church estate, shall not be accounted fit for civill services. 

The implied dissent to the principles of theocracy, con- 
tained in this passage, when compared with the crude and 
unconsidered contention against the true power of the mag- 
istrates, in the matter of the first table, displays an in- 
crease in breadth of thought, as remarkable as it is notable. 
In the latter we behold him, as it were, groping after a 
principle, as yet not fully developed in his mind. In the 
first we see a thoroughly considered political sentiment, 
which, more fully expanded, formed the groundwork of 
the political edifice of our great republic. 

The record of Cotton Mather, of the closing scene in 
the career of Williams in the Bay Colony — although the 
testimony of a bitter theological opponent — is useful as 
showing the popular understanding at the time, of the 
chief causes of his banishment. After a somewhat ram- 
bling and throughly partisan discussion of the religious 
opinions of Williams, which served to bring him into antag- 
onism with the ministers of the Bay, Mather continues : 

These things were indeed very disturbant and offensive; but 

^The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution — Publications of the Narra- 
gansett Club, iii, 333. ' 



A Political Pioneer 123 

there were two things in his quixotism that made it no longer 
convenient for the civil authority to remain unconcerned about 
him. For first, whereas the King of England had granted a 
royal charter unto the "governour and company" of this colony, 
this hot headed man publickly and furiously preached against 
the patent, as '*an instrument of injustice'* and pressed both 
rulers and people to be humbled for their sin in taking such a 
patent, and utterly throw it up, on an insignificant pretence of 
wrong thereby done unto the Indians, which were the natives 
of the country, therein given to the subject of the English crown. 
Secondly an order of the court, upon some first occasion had 
been made, that an "oath of fidelity" should be, though not 
imposed upon, yet offered unto the freemen, the better to dis- 
tinguish those whose fidelity might render them capable of im- 
ployment in the government; which order this man vehemently 
withstood, on a pernicious pretence that it was the prerogative 
of our Lord Christ alone to have his office established with an 
oath; and that an oath being the worship of God, carnal per- 
sons, whereof he supposed there were many in the land, might 
not be put upon it. These crimes at last procured a sentence of 
banishment upon him.^ 

If we are forced to doubt, on account of his partisan- 
ship, the thorough sincerity of Cotton Mather in this 
record, we cannot, in like manner reject the testimony 
of Roger Williams' friend and well wisher, Governor 
Edward Winslow of Plymouth. He it was who, troubled 
in mind and anxious for the welfare of his friend, made 
a journey from Plymouth to Providence, through the 
unbroken wilderness, for the purpose of paying him a 
visit. "It pleased the Father of Spirits," wrote Williams 
to Major Mason, " to touch many hearts dear to him, 
with some relentings; amongst which, that great and 
pious soul, Mr. Winslow, melted and kindly visited me 
: -% 

Mather's Magnalia Christi Americana, ii, 501. 



124 Roger Williams 

at Providence and put a piece of gold into the hands of 
my wife for our supply."^ 

This man, in the year 1646, published a treatise under 
the title Hypocrisie Unmaskedy a discussion of the Samuel 
Gorton episode in Massachusetts history. In this work, 
a brief allusion is made to Roger Williams, and to the 
causes which led to his banishment. 

"I know that Mr. Williams," says his dear friend Winslow, 
(" though a man lovely in his carriage and whom I trust the 
Lord will yet recall,") held forth in those times the unlawfulness 
of our Letters Patents from the King, &c., would not allow the 
Colours of our Nation, denyed the lawfulnesse of a publique 
oath as being needlesse to the Saints and a prophanation of 
God's name to tender it to the wicked, &c., and truly I never 
heard but he was dealt with for these and such like points; how- 
ever I am sorry for the love I beare to him and his, I am forced 
to mention it, but God cals mee at this time to take off these 
aspersions."^ 

Sir William Martin, one of the staunch friends of the 
Bay Colony in England, in some manner learning of the 
attitude assumed by Williams, as touching separation, 
was much concerned, both for him and them. Writing 
to Winthrop concerning some matter in connection with 
the welfare of the colony. Sir William, evidently unaware 
that Williams had already gone from among them, wrote 
thus : 

Sir William Martin to Governor Winthrop. 

I am glad to heare of Mr. Norton's safe arrivall and should have 
been more glad if it had beene at the baye. I hope he will settle 
with you; his abilityes are more than ordinary and will be accep- 
table and profitable to the churches. I have received Prats 
exposition from Mr. Downing; and in the mayne I finde little 



»Pubs. Nar. Club, vi, 337. 
^Hypocrisie Unmasked, p. 65 et seq. 



A Political Pioneer 125 

difference therein from his letters. I should be glad to be truly 
informed by you, what you conceive of the soyle and meanes of 
subsistances, and whether that exposition agrees with the truth 
of things. I am sorry to heare of Mr. Williams's separation 
from you. His former good affections to you and the planta- 
tions were well known unto me and make me wonder now at 
his proceedinges. I have wrote to him effectually to submit to 
bette ' judgments, especially to those whom formerly he rever- 
enced and admired; at least to keep the bond of peace inviolable. 
This hath .been always my advice; and nothing conduceth more 
to the good of plantations. I praye shew him what lawful! 
favour you can, which may stand with the common good. He 
is passionate and precipitate, which may transport him into 
error, but I hope his integrity and good intentions will bring 
him at last into the ways of truth and confirm him therein. In 
the meane time, I pray God to give him a right use of this af- 
fliction. Thus leavinge him to your favourable censures, and 
you all to the direction of God, with my best respects to you and 
yours, I sign me, 

Your affectionate, 

W.M. 
[London] March 29, 1636.* 



^Pubs. Prince Soc. — Hutchinson Papers, i, 106. 



CHAPTER IX 

There are no records extant, save those which Mr. 
Williams himself has left us, which tell of his wanderings 
and of his destination, after his abrupt departure from 
Salem, warned, as he doubtless had been, of the approach 
of Captain Oldham. Thirty-five years later, in a long 
letter written to Major Mason, to which allusion was 
made in the last chapter, he shows that for fourteen weeks 
he wandered in the wilderness, harbored and sheltered, 
we must believe, by friendly Indians. At length, by hand 
of a messenger, who sought him out in his place of refuge, 
he was given a letter from Governor Winthrop, who in 
it gave him friendly counsel. Let Mr. Williams himself 
tell us the story, even as he told it to his correspondent: 

First, when I was unkindly and unchristianly, as I believe, 
driven from my house and land, and wife and children (in the 
midst of a New England winter, now about thirty-five years 
past) at Salem, that ever honored Governor, Mr.Winthrop, 
privately wrote to me to steer my course to Narraganset Bay 
and Indians, for many high and heavenly and public ends, 
encouraging me, from the freeness of the place from any English 
claims or patents. I took his prudent notion as a hint and 
voice from God and waving all other thoughts and motions, I 
steered my course from Salem, (though in winter snow, which 
I feel yet) unto these parts, wherein I may say Peniel, that is, 
I have seen the face of God. 

Second, I first pitched and began to build and plant at Seekouk, 
now Rehoboth, but I received a letter from my ancient friend, 
Mr. Winslow, then governor of Plymouth, professing his own 
and others' love and respect to me, yet lovingly advising me, 



A Political Pioneer 127 

since I was fallen into the edge of their bounds, and they were 
loath to displease the Bay, to remove but to the other side of the 
water and there, he said, I had the country free before me and 
might be as free as themselves. These were the joint under- 
standings of those two eminently wise and Christian governors 
and others, in their day, together with their counsel and advice 
as to the freedom and vacancy of this place which in this respect, 
and many other Providences of the Most Holy and Only Wise, I 
called PROVIDENCE.^ 

Mr. Williams was accompanied in his brief journey 
to his new place of settlement by five men, his friends 
and admirers. These were William Harris, John Smith, 
a miller, Joshua Verin, Thomas Angell and Francis 
Wickes. The second of these, it will be remembered, 
received a sentence of banishment from the Bay Colony, 
at the same session of the General Court as that at which 
the order of banishment against Williams was adopted. 
Of the five, little or nothing is known save that they joined 
their fortunes to those of their leader, and aided him in 
the establishment of the new plantations. 

'Some years after the Providence Plantations had been 
placed upon a firm basis, Mr. Williams wrote a letter 
addressed to John Cotton, in which he reviewed his ban- 
ishment and its causes, attacking especially Mr. Cotton, 
as the chief cause of the Colony's action. In his Reply 
to Mr. Williams f his Examination, Mr. Cotton says: — 

Before my coming into New England, the godly-wise and 
vigilant Ruling Elder of Plymouth, (aged Mr. Bruister) had 
warned the whole church of the danger of his spirit, which 
moved the better part of the church to be glad of his removall 
from there into the Bay. And in the Bay, not long before my 
coming he began to oppose the King's patent, with much vehe- 
mency, (as he had done at Plymouth before) which made the 



^Publications of Narragansett Club, vi. 335, 



128 Roger Williams 

magistrates to feare they should have more to doe with him then 
with a man publickly acknowledged to be godly and dearely 
beloved 

But whereas he saith He was exposed to the mercie of an 
howling wilderness, in frost, snow, etc., the truth is, the sentence 
of his banishment out of the patent was pronounced against 
him in the court before winter and respite was given him to 
tarry certain weeks (six or more) to prepare for his journey. 
In the meantime some of his friends went to the place appointed 
by himself before hand to make provision of housing and other 
necessaries for him against his coming; otherwise he might have 
chosen to have gone either Southward to his acquaintance at 
Plymouth, or Eastward to Pascatogne or Aganimiticus. And 
then the wilderness had been as no wilderness, (at least no 
howling wilderness) where men sit downe under warme and 
dry roofes, sheltered from the annoyance of frost and snow and 
other winter hardships.^ 

From this passage it would appear, although there 
is no other evidence, that the five friends of Williams, 
aware of his contemplated flight from Salem, preceded 
him into the wilderness and made ready for his coming 
the first camp on the banks of that river which bears the 
triple name of the Blackstone, the Seekonk and the Paw- 
tucket.^ The company remained here during the re- 
mainder of the winter and in the spring planted their 
crops. But they were destined again to be disturbed 
for, as Mr. Williams himself has already told us, he re- 
ceived a letter from Governor Winslow, at Plymouth, 
in which he was informed that the new plantation was 
within the limits covered by the Plymouth patent; that 



'Publications of the Narragansett Club, ii, 12 et seq. 

^This river, from its source to Pawtucket falls is called the Blackstone 
for William Blackstone, the first settler of Boston, who afterward settled 
on its banks. Below the falls, on its east bank it is known as the Seekonk, 
on the west bank as the Paivtucket. 



A Political Pioneer 129 

the Plymouth brethren were loath to displease them of 
the Bay, by allowing a settlement within their limits, of 
men who were at variance with the magistracy of that 
colony; and suggesting, in a friendly way that all possible 
occasion of friction would be removed if Mr. Williams 
and his friends would but make their plantation on the 
farther bank of the river. 

Mr. Williams, unwilling to precipitate, by his action, 
a possible quarrel between the authorities of the Bay and 
of Plymouth, — although, by so doing he endangered the 
year's harvest — abandoned his plantation, and with his 
followers, embarked in a canoe and pushed down the 
river in search of a new situation. And now comes into 
the narrative the first occurrence, in the relation of which 
tradition must succeed to literal record. It is the full 
belief of the good people of Providence, even unto this 
day, that, as Roger Williams and his party paddled down 
the stream a group of Indians, who recognized them, 
espied them from the summit of a great rock upon the 
river's bank. In recognition of the kindness which they 
had received from the hands and lips of Williams, they 
sent forth a salutation to the voyagers, with the cry, 
"What cheer, Netop," or, in more intelligible language, 
"What good news, friend.^" 

The story goes that the travellers, pausing in their 
journey, stepped upon the rock — which was, for two 
centuries and a half after, known as "Slate Rock" — and 
returned the greetings of their Indian friends. Then, 
re-embarking, they continued down the river to its mouth, 
rounded the promontory, including India point and Fox 
point, and entered an estuary of Narragansett Bay. 
Proceeding northward a short distance, until they reached 
the confluence of the rivers Woonasquatucket and 



130 Roger Williams 

Moshassuck, they there disembarked, near a great spring 
of sweet water. Here they made their home; and here, in 
the process of time, was builded a great city, which has 
taken for the motto upon its corporate seal, the legend 
What Cheer. 

To this little company of six men others soon joined 
themselves and, the community beginning to assume re- 
spectable proportions, it became evident that some form 
of government must soon be adopted. It is a remarkable 
circumstance that notwithstanding the prominent part 
which John Winthrop assumed in the banishment of 
Roger Williams, the personal friendship and mutual 
esteem of the two men were never shaken. Each recog- 
nized the thorough sincerity of the other, and the letters 
which passed between the two, many of which are still 
extant, betray the warm regard which they maintained 
each for the other. Naturally, then, and inasmuch as 
Mr. Williams had, as yet, no experience in statecraft, he 
desired to consult with his friend Winthrop, — then the 
deputy governor of the Bay — concerning a suitable form 
of government for the new colony. The letter which he 
wrote to Winthrop upon this subject, and which here 
follows, was written, evidently not long after the company 
had set down on the Woonasquatucket, and probably in 
the summer of 1636. This letter bears evidence that 
Williams was not relying wholly upon the advice which 
he hoped to obtain from Winthrop, but that he had tenta- 
tively determined upon forming a democracy, compacted 
by mutual agreement of its members, after the model of 
the organization formed by the Mayflower compact. 
That he had not, when this letter was written, determined 
upon a political organization, from which ecclesiastical 
power should be wholly excluded, is evident from the 



A Political Pioneer 131 

omission of a most significant clause, from the two models 
of a compact which he submitted to Winthrop, as will 
hereafter appear. The letter follows: — 

Roger Williams to John Winthrop. 

For his much honored, Mr. John Winthrop, Deputy Governor 

these. 

Much honored Sir — The frequent experience of your 
loving ear, ready and open toward me (in what your confcience 
that permitted) as alfo of that excellent fpirit of wifdom and 
prudence wherewith the Father of Lights hath endued you, 
emolden me to requeft a word of private advife with the foon- 
efth convenience, if it maybe, by this meffenger. 

The condition of myfelf and thofe few families here planting 
with me, you know full well: we have no Patent: nor doth the 
face of Magiftracy fuit with our prefent condition. Hitherto, 
the mafters of families have ordinarily met once a fortnight and 
confulted about our common peace, watch, and planting; and 
mutual confent have finifhed all matters with fpeed and peace. 

Now of late fome young men, fingle perfons (of whom we 
had much need) being admitted to freedom of inhabitation, and 
promifing to be fubject to the orders made by the confent of 
the householders, are difcontented with their eftate, and feek 
the freedom of vote alfo, and equality, &c. 

Befide, our dangers (in the midft of thefe dens of lions) now 
efpecially, call upon us to be compact in a civil way and power. 

I have therefore had thoughts of propounding to my neigh- 
bors a double fubfcription, concerning which I fhall humbly 
crave your help. 

The firft concerning ourfelves, the mafters of families: thus. 

We whofe names are hereunder written, late inhabitants of 
the Maffachufetts, (upon occafion of fome difference of con- 
fcience,) being permitted to depart from the limits of that Patent, 
under the which we came over into thefe parts, and being caft 
by the Provide^C^ of the God of Heaven, remote from others 
of ou-r countrymen amongft the barbanar*: in this town of New 



132 Roger Williams 

Providence, do with free and joint confent promife each unto 
other, that, for our common peace and welfare (until we heare 
further of the King's royal pleafure concerning ourfelves) we 
will from time to time fubject ourfelves in active or paffive 
obedience to fuch orders and agreements, as fhall be made by 
the greater number of the prefent houfeholders, and fuch as 
fhall be hereafter admitted by their confent into the fame privi- 
lege and covenant in our ordinary meeting. In witnefs whereof 
we hereunto fubfcribe, «&c. 

Concerning thofe few young men, and any who fhall here- 
after (by your favorable connivance) defire to plant with us 
this,— 

We whofe names are hereunder written, being defirous to in- 
habit in this Town of New Providence, do promife to fubject 
ourfelves in active or paffive obedience to fuch orders and agree- 
ments as fhall be made from time to time, b the greater number 
of the prefent houfeholders of this Town, and fuch whom they 
fhall admit into the fame fellowfhip and privilege. In witness 
whereof, &c. 

Hitherto we choofe one, (named the officer,) to call the meet 
ing at the appointed time: now it is defired by fome of us that 
the houfeholders by courfe perform that work, as alfo gather 
votes and fee the watch go on, &c. 

I have not yet mentioned thefe things to my neighbors, but 
fhall as I fee caufe upon your loving counfel. 

As also fince the place I have purchafed, fecondly, at mine 
owne charge and engagements, the inhabitants paying (by con- 
fent thirty f hillings a piece as they come, until my charge be 
out for their particular lots: and thirdly, that I never made any 
other covenant with any perfon, but that if I got a place he 
fhould plant there with me: my query is this, — 

Whither I may not lawfully defire this of my neighbors, that 
as I freely fubject myfelf to common confent, and fhall not 
bring in any perfon into the town without their confent; fo alfo 
that againft my confent no perfon be violently brought in and 
received. ^' '^ ~^^ 

I defire not to fle*»^ In fecurity and dream of a neft which no 



A Political Pioneer 13fJ 

hand can reach. I cannot but expect changes, and the change 
of the laft enemy death, yet dare I not defpife a liberty, which 
the Lord feemeth to offer me, if for mine own or others peace : 
and therefore have I been thus bold to prefent my thoughts 
unto you. 

The Pequots hear of your preparations, &c., and comfort 
themfelves in this, that a witch amongft them will fink the pin- 
naces, by diving under water and making holes, &c., as alfo 
that they fhall now enrich themfelves with ftore of guns, but I 
hope their dreams (through the mercy of the Lord) fhall vanifh, 
and the devil and his lying forcerers fhall be confounded. 

You may pleafe, Sir, to take notice that it is of main confe- 
quence to take some courfe with the Wunnafhowatuckoogs and 
Wufquowhananawkits, who are the furthermoft Neepnet men, 
for the Pequots driven from the fea coaft with eafe, yet there 
fecure and ftrengthen themfelves, and are then brought down fo 
much the nearer to you. Thus with the beft refpects to your 
loving felf and Mrs. Winthrop, I reft, 

Your Worfhips unfeigned, praying to meet you in this vale of 
tears or hills of mercy above. 

R. Williams. 

The result of the deliberations of Williams, aided, it 
is not improbable, by the advice of his friend Winthrop, 
was the adoption and subscription of a compact of gov- 
ernment which, in its terms, must be regarded as the 
most remarkable political document theretofore executed, 
not even excepting the Magna Charta. It was a docu- 
ment which placed a government, formed by the people 
and for the people, solely in the control of the civil arm. 
It gave the first example of a pure democracy, from 
which all ecclesiastical power was eliminated. It was the 
first enunciation of a great principle, which years later, 
formed the corner stone of the Great Republic. It was 
the act of a statesman fully a century in advance of his 
time. 



134! Roger Williams 

The earliest records of the Providence Plantations are 
exceedingly meagre. It is a matter of history that the 
town of Providence was attacked by Indians and a con- 
siderable portion destroyed by fire, in the year 1676. If 
records then existed more voluminous than those now 
extant, it is probable that they were consumed in the 
conflagration which destroyed the town. Some of the 
early records are said to have been thrown into a pond as 
a place of safety ( ?) at this time, whence they were after- 
ward rescued in a somewhat damaged condition. Upon 
the first page of the oldest book of records of Providence 
now in existence is found this compact — a book as sacredly 
cherished as is the History of New England, written in 
the quaint, crabbed handwriting of John Winthrop, or 
the carefully guarded chronicle of Plymouth Plantation, 
traced by the hand of William Bradford. 

COMPACT. 

We whose names are hereunder, desirous to inhabitt in ye 
towne of Providence do promise to subiect ourselves in actiue or 
passiue obedience to all such orders or agreements as shall be 
made for publick good of or body in an orderly way, by the 
maior consent of the present Inhabitants, maisters of families 
Incorporated together into a towne fellowship and others whome 
they shall admitt unto them 

only in civill things 

Richard Scott Edward E. Cope 

William Renolds. Thomas Angell. 

John ffeild. Thomas Harris. 

Chad Browne. ffrancis Weekes. 

John Warner. Benedict Arnold. 

George Rickard. William Wickenden. 



^Early Records of the Town of Providence, i, 1; et vide. Records of the 
Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations in New England i, 14_ 



A Political Pioneer 135 

It will at once occur to the reader as noticeable, that 
this compact does not bear the name of Roger Williams, 
as one of its signers. The names of three of his five 
companions also are missing, two only appearing — those 
of Thomas Angell and Francis Wickes. A possible 
explanation of this circumstance is supplied by the editor 
of the Records of the Colony, in the supposition that 
these names thus signed, with the exception of the names 
of Angell and Wickes, are those of a second party of 
comers, and that the original compact signed by Williams 
and his immediate followers has been lost. That the 
names of Angell and Wickes here appear is explained by 
the editor by the supposition that they were minors at 
the time of signing the first compact, a supposition to 
which a record made by Williams lends a color of prob- 
ability. 

The second entry in this ancient book of records, bear- 
ing the date of June 16, [1636] is the record of a vote of 
the town determining a fine for such as should be more 
than a quarter of an hour late for the time appointed 
for a town meeting. 

During hfs life at Plymouth and at Salem, as we already 
know, Mr. Williams had passed much of his time in the 
forest, making the acquaintance of the Indians and 
winning their confidence. In this he would appear to 
have been highly successful. Canon icus and his nephew 
Miantonomoh, the very powerful joint chiefs of the 
Narragansett tribe, held sway over this entire region. 
They had subdued the Wampanoags and had forced 
the submission of that tribe. At the time of the flight of 
Williams from Salem, the Narragansett chiefs were at 
odds with Ausamaquin, a chief at the eastward, although 
open hostilities had not, probably, begun. To reconcile 
these antagonists Williams at once bent his energies; 



136 Roger Williams 

and it seems probable that this was the mission with 
which he was occupied during the period of fourteen 
weeks, which intervened between the time of his flight 
from Salem and his first settlement, on the banks of the 
Seekonk. While acting thus as a pacificator, Mr. Will- 
iams won the confidence and respect of the Narragansett 
chiefs; and when he made known to them his desire to 
make a plantation within their domains, he was made 
heartily welcome. A large tract of country, stretching 
from the Pawtucket to the Pawtuxet rivers was given to 
him. It is probable that the grant was originally made 
verbally, for no record of a formal conveyance appears, 
at an earlier date than March, 1637, nearly a year after 
the settlement was made near the great spring. From 
this conveyance it is seen that the original verbal grant 
was made two years earlier, or fully a month before 
Williams and his company "began to build and plant 
at Seekonk.'* 

The tract of land thus granted to Roger Williams was 
a year and a half later, made over by him to the members 
of his company, in consideration of the sum of thirty 
pounds by them to him paid. This conveyance was 
made by a hastily drawn memorandum, in which the 
names of the grantees were inserted by initials only. 
This document is known by the Rhode Island antiqua- 
rians as the "Initial deed." Twenty-eight years after, 
for the purpose, probably, of making this record com- 
plete, Mr. Williams placed a second conveyance upon re- 
cord, identical with the original, save that the names of 
the grantees were inserted, in place of their initials. This 
quaint and curious document is here presented: 



A Political Pioneer 137 

Deed from Cannaunicus and Miantonomi to 
Roger Williams. 

At Nanhiggansick the 24th of the first month commonly 
called March, in the second year of our plantation or planting 
at Mooshansick or Providence, 

Memorandum; that we, Cannaunicus and Meautunomi, the 
two chief sachems of Nanhiggansick, having two years since 
sold unto Roger Williams the lands and meadows upon the two 
fresh rivers called Mooshansick and Wanasgnatucket do now 
by these presents establish and confirm the bonds of these lands, 
from the river and fields at Pawtucket, the great hill of Neota- 
conkonitt on the northwest and the town of Mashapange on the 
west. As also in consederation of the many kindnesses and 
services he hath continually done for us, both with our friends 
Massachusetts, as also at Quinickicutt, and Apaum or Plymouth, 
we do freely give unto him all that land from those rivers, reach- 
ing to Pawtucket river, as also the grass and meadows upon the 
said Pawtucket river. 

In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands. 
The mark of X Cannaunicus. 
The mark of X Meautunome. 
In the presence of 

The mark of X Seatash. 

The mark of * Assotemewit. 

1639, Memorandum, 3 mo., 9th day. — ^This was all again 
confirmed by Miantonomi, he acknowledging this his act and 
hand, up the streams of Pawtucket and Pawtuxet without limits, 
we might have for our use of cattle. 
Witness hereof, 

Roger Williams. 
Benedict Arnold. 

This conveyance to his associates was further con- 
firmed, in the year 1638, by a more formal and elaborate 
deed, in which the wife of Roger Williams joined. A 



138 Roger Williams 

mutual agreement, in which Roger Williams and his 
associates, now increased to twelve, joined, was at the 
same time entered into, for the mutual ownership and 
disposition of the land thus acquired for a plantation. 
Fifty years after these occurrences, Mr. Williams, then 
being advanced in age, for the information of posterity 
prepared a written statement, in the form of a deposition, 
wherein the circumstances attending the planting of the 
colony were detailed. 

The Enrolement of A. Wrighting 
Signed by Roger Williams, as Followeth: 

Providence, 8 of ye 8th mon: 1638 (so called). 

Memorandum yt I Roger Williams having formerly purchassed 
of Caunounicus & Miantenomue this our seituation, or planta- 
tion of New Providence, viz the Two ffresh Rivers Wanasgna 
tuckett & Mooshausiek, and ye ground & Meadowes thereupon : 
In Consideration of thirtie poundes received from the Inhabe- 
tantes of the saide place, doe freely & ffully passe grant & make 
over Equall Right and power of Enjoyeing & dispossing the 
same groundes & Landes unto my Lo: ffriends & neighbors 
Stukley Westcoot; Wm Arnold; Thomas James; Robert Cole; 
John Greene; John Throckmorten; William Harris; Wm Car- 
penter; Tho: Olney; ffrancis Weston, Rich: Waterman; Ezechiell 
Holliman; and such others as the mayor part of us shall admitt 
into the same flellowshipp of Voate with us. As also I doe 
flreely make and passe over equall Right and power of Enjoyeing 
and despossing of the Lands and grounds Reaching from the 
aforesaid Rivers unto the great River Pautuxett with the grasse 
and meadowes there upon woe was so lately given & granted by 
the aforesaid Sachims to me witnesse my hand: 

Providence 22: 10, 1666 (so called). 

This paper & writing is a true coppie of a wrighteing given by 
me about Twenty Eight yeares since, & differs not a tittle only 



!A] Political Pioneer 139 

so is dated as neere as we could guesse about the time and the 
names of the men (writteen in a straight of time & hast) are 
here explained by me. 

Roger Williams. 
in the presence of us 

John Browne. 

Jon Sayles. 

Thomas Harris, Assistant.^ 

Deposition of Roger Williams. 

Narragansett, 18, June, 1682 Ut Vul. 

I testify as in the presence of the allmaking and all-seeing 
God that about fifty years since I coming into this Narragan- 
sett Country I found a great contest between three sachems, 
two (to wit Cononicus and Miantonomy) were against Ousama- 
quin or Plymouth side. I was forced to travel between them 
three to pacify, to satisfy all their, and their dependent's spirits 
of my honest intentions to live peacably by them. I testify 
that it was the general and constant declaration that Can- 
nonicus his father had three sons, whereof Cannonicus was the 
heire, and his youngest brother's son Miantonomy (because of 
his youth) was his marshal and executioner and did nothing 
without his unkle Cannonicus consent. And therefore I declare 
to posterity that were it not for the favor that God gave me 
with Cannonicus, none of these parts, no, not Rhode 
Island had been purchased or obtained, for I never got any- 
thing out of Cannonicus but by gift. I also profess that being 
inquisitive of what root the title or denomination Nahiganset 
should come, I heard that Nahiganset was so named from a little 
Island between Puttisgnomscut and Musqnomacuk on the sea 
and fresh water side. I went on purpose to see it and about 
the place called Sugar Loaf Hill I saw it and was within a 
pole of it, but could not learn why it was called Nahiganset. 
I had learnt that the Massachusetts was so called from the Blue 
Hills, a little Island thereabout; and Cannonicas father and 

^Early Records of the Town of Providence, iii, 90. 



140 Roger Williams 

anchestors living in these southern parts, transferred and 
brought their authority and name into those northern parts all 
along by the seaside; and I desire posterity to see the gracious 
hand of the Most High, (in whose hands is all hearts) that when 
the hearts of my country-men and friends and bretheren failed 
me, his infinite wisdom and merits stirred up the barbarous 
heart of Canonicus to love me as his own son to his last gasp, 
by which means I had not only Miantonomy and all the Cow- 
esit sachems my friends, but Ousamaquin also who, because of 
my great friendship with him at Plymouth and the authority of 
Cannonicus consented freely (being also well gratified by me) to 
the Governor Winthrop's and my enjoyment of Prudence, yea of 
Providence itself, and all the other lands I procured of Can- 
nonicus, which were upon the point, and in effect whatsoever I 
desired of him. And I never denyed him nor Miantonomy 
whatever they desired of me as to goods or gifts, or use of my 
boats or pinnace and the travels of my own person day and 
night, which though men knew not, nor care to know, yet the 
All-seeing eye hath seen it and his All-powerful hand hath helped 
me. Blessed be his holy name to eternity. 

Roger Williams. 



CHAPTER X 

r .. 

Auspiciously as the new life of the infant colony had 
begun, its sky was soon overclouded. The system of 
entire freedom of conscience, which had been adopted 
as the ground work of their fabric political, was itself 
the first cause of dissension; and the first malcontent was 
one of the five friends who followed — or, perhaps, pre- 
ceded — Williams into the wilderness. In the midst of 
the cares of his magistracy, and of the bodily toil which 
necessarily accompanied the establishment of a new 
settlement, Williams did not forget the duty which de- 
volved upon him also as a religious teacher. Not only 
on Sundays, but on week days also, it was his wont to 
gather together the people for divine worship and to 
listen to his teachings. Among his most frequent auditors 
was the wife of Joshua Verin, one of the devout women 
of Salem, who had so faithfully clung to his fortunes 
during the stormy days which preceded his departure 
from that place. So constant was Mistress Verin upon 
his ministrations, after the families were reunited in their 
new habitations, that her absence from home and its 
duties began to be severely felt. Verin, so one account 
goes, at last remonstrated and requested his wife to devote 
less time to her religious, and more to her house- wifely, 
duties. The attitude of the husband came to the ears 
of Mr. Williams and the leading men of the town, and a 
town meeting was called to consider the matter; for it 
was charged that Verin, in his interference with his wife's 
religious privileges, had broken the covenant of religious 
freedom, upon which their colony had been founded. 



142 Roger Williams 

A warm discussion ensued and William Arnold ardent- 
ly espoused the cause of Verin. Governor Winthrop, — 
who doubtless received his information from Verin him- 
self, — thus records the episode: 

But there stood up one Arnold, a witty man of their own 
company and withstood it, telling them that, when he consented 
to that order he never intended it should extend to the breach 
of any ordinance of God, such as the subjection of wives to their 
husbands, &c., and gave divers solid reasons against it. Then 
one Greene (who hath married the wife of one Beggerly, whose 
husband is living and no divorce, &c., but only it was said that 
he had lived in adultery and had confessed it) he replied that, if 
they should restrain their wives all the women in the country 
would cry out of them. Arnold answered him thus: "Did you 
pretend to leave the Massachusetts because you would not 
offend God to please men, and would you now break one ordi- 
nance and commandment of God to please women.?" Some 
were of opinion that if Verin would not suffer his wife to have 
her liberty, the church should dispose of her to some other man, 
who would use her better. Arnold told them that it was not 
the woman's desire to go so oft from home, but only Mr. Williams 
and others. In conclusion, when they would have censured 
Verin, Arnold told them that it was against their own order; 
and their order was that no man should be censured for his con- 
science.* 

The story of this affair, as told by Mr. Williams, differs 
widely, in its details, from its narration as recorded by 
Winthrop. In a letter to the governor, under date of 
May 22, 1638, Williams relates his version of the occurrence. 
Although the latter portion of the epistle alone is concerned 
with the Verin matter, the entire letter is here given, as 
illustrating admirably Mr. Williams' epistolary style: 



^Winthrop, i, 282, et seq. 



A Political Pioneer 143 

Roger Williams to John Winthrop. 
To his much honoured Governer John Winthrop 

Providence, the 22 of 3d men [May 22, 1638] 

Sir: — Blessed be the Father of Spirits, in whose hand our 
breath and ways are, that once more I may be bold to salute 
you and congratulate your return from the brink of the pit of 
rottonness. 

What is man that thou shouldest visit him and try him? &., 
Job 7th. You are put off to this tempestuous sea again, more 
storms await you, the good Lord repair our leaks, freshen up the 
gales of his blessed Spirit, steady our course by the compass of 
his own truth, rescue us from all our spiritual adversaries, not 
only men, but fiends of war, and assure us of an harbor at last 
even the bosom of the Lord Jesus. 

Sir, you have many an eye (I presume) lifted up to the hills 
of mercy for you; mine might seem superfluous; yet privately and 
publicly you have not been forgotten, and I hope shall not while 
these eyes have sight. 

Sir, this last night Mr. Allen of Hartford, and Lieutenant 
Holmes lodged with me, and relate that Mr. Haynes or some 
chief resolved to be with you this week, so that you may please 
a little stop till their coming. Lieutenant Holmes relates that 
William Baker, who lay hid so long among the Mohegans and 
Pequots, for whom he gave bail, &c., was hid again the second 
time among the same by Uncas, but the Lieutenant, by a Prov- 
idence, heard of him and returned him to Hartford, where he 
hath suffered for his much uncleanness by two several whippings. 
This fellow, notorious in villainy and strongly affected by those 
wretches, both studying revenge, is worthy to be watched even 
by the whole country and to be dispersed from the Pequots and 
they each from other, according as I have been bold to motion 
formerly. 

Sir, we have been long afflicted by a young man boistrous and 
desperate, Philip Verins, son of Salem, who as he hath refused 
to hear the word with us (which we molested him not for) this 



144 Roger Williams 

twelve month, so because he could not draw his wife, a gracious 
and modest woman, to the same ungodliness with him, he hath 
trodden her under foot tyranieally and bruitishly; which she and 
we long bearing, though with his furious blows she went in 
danger of life, at the last the major vote of us discarded him 
from our civil freedom, or disfranchise, &c., he will have justice 
(as he clamors) at other courts : I wish he might, for a foul and 
slanderous and bruitish carriage, which God hath delivered 
him up unto; he will [haul] his wife with ropes to Salem, where 
she must needs be troubled and troublesome, as differences yet 
stand. She is willing to stay and live with him or elsewhere, 
where she may not offend, &c. I shall humbly request that 
this item be accepted, and he no way countenanced, until (if 
need be) I further trouble you: So with due respects to Mrs. 
Winthrop, Mr. Deputy, Mr. Bellingham, &c., I rest. 

Your Worship's unfeigned, 
Roger Williams.^ 

The arguments of Arnold, and the protestations of 
Verin, did not avail, as this record shows: 

The 21 die of the 3d Month [May, 1637] 

It was agreed that Joshua Verin, upon the breach of a cove- 
nant for restraining of the libertie of conscience, shall be with- 
held from the libertie of voting till he shall declare the contrarie.^ 

This affair caused the first breach in the ranks of the 
colonists, for Verin, resenting the action of the meeting, 
abandoned the settlement and returned to Salem. It is 
easy to imagine the delight with which the opponents of 
W^illiams, in the Bay Colony, hailed the return of this 
man, as indicating to them a probability of the failure of 
Williams as a political leader of men. 

Verin did not content himself with merely withdrawing 



^Letters of Roger Williams — Pub. Nar. Club, vi. 
^Rhode Island Records, i, 16. 



A Political Pioneer 145 

from Providence, and returning to Salem, but he sent 
back a demand for a recognition of his title to his share 
of the Providence lands. This was granted him; but it 
would appear from a later letter to Winthrop that Verin 
attempted to "get even" with the Providence colonists 
and especially with Williams. 

Roger Williams to John Winthrop. 

[Sept. or Oct., 1638] 

Sir, I hear that two malicious persons, one I was bold to 
trouble your worship with not long since, Joshua Verin, and 
another yet with us, William Arnold, have most falsely and 
slanderously (as I hope it shall appear) complotted together 
(even as Gardener did against yourselves) many odious accu- 
sations in writing. It may be they may someway come to your 
loving hand, I presume the end is to render me odious both to 
the King's majesty as also to yourselves, I shall request humbly 
your wonted love and gentleness, (if it come to your worships' 
hand) to help me with the sight of it and I am confident yourself 
shall be the judge of the notorious wickedness and malicious 
falsehoods therein and that there hath not past ought from me, 
either concerning the maintaining of our liberties in this land, 
or any difference with yourselves which shall not manifest 
loyalty's reverence, modesty and tender affection, 

The Lord Jesus, the Son of righteousness shine brightly and 
eternally on you and yours and all that seek him that was cruci- 
fied. In him I ever desire to be. 

Your Worship's most unfeigned, 

Roger Williams. 

Disaffections among the New England colonists were 
not, however, confined to the immediate followers of 
Williams. Notwithstanding his withdrawal from Salem, 
and the submission of that church to the authority of the 
magistracy of the colony, the effects of his teachings 



146 Roger Williams 

still remained potent and the atmosphere of Salem was 
redolent with the odor of his memory. Some of his 
adherents, as we already know, followed, or accompanied, 
him to Providence. Others who remained behind re- 
tained some of the opinions which he had taught, to the 
manifest disquietude of others. Especially did these 
cling to the belief that it was improper, or "unlawful," 
for members of the Puritan congregations of New England, 
to attend upon the worship of the Church of England, upon 
occasions when they chanced to return to the mother 
country upon visits of business or pleasure. So ardent 
did the controversy become at length, that the church at 
Salem sent a deputation of two brethren, bearing a cir- 
cular letter, addressed to the other churches of the Bay, 
asking their advice in the matter. The record made by 
Governor Winthrop, concerning this affair, is full of 
interest. On the twelfth day of April, 1636, the governor 
thus wrote: 

The church of Salem was still infected with Mr. Williams 
his opinions, so as most of them held it unlawful to hear in the 
ordinary assemblies in England, because their foundation was 
anti-christian and we should, by hearing, hold communion with 
them; and some went so far as they were ready to separate from 
the church upon it. Whereupon the church sent two brethren 
and a letter to the elders of other churches, for their advice in 
three points : 

1. Whether (for satisfying the weak) they might promise not 
to hear in England any false church. This was not thought 
safe, because then they would draw them to the like toward the 
other churches here, who were all of opinion that it was lawful 
and that hearing was not church communion. 

2. If they were not better, to grant them dismission to be a 
church by themselves. This was also opposed, for that it was 
not a remedy of God's ordering; neither would the magistrates 
allow them to be a church, being but three men and eight women; 



A Political Pioneer 147 

and besides it were dangerous to raise churches upon such grounds. 
3. Whether they ought then to excommunicate them, if they 
did withdraw. This was granted, yet withal, that if they did 
not withdraw or run into contempt, they ought, in these matters 
of difference of opinion in things not fundamental nor scanda- 
lous, &c., to bear each with other. ^ 

This affair, since it concerned matters neither "fun- 
damental nor scandalous," appears to have gone no 
farther than this. But the people of the Bay were to 
hear still further of Mr. Williams. In March, 1637 
Governor Winthrop made this entry: 

While the General Court sate there came a letter directed to 
the court, from John Greene of Providence, who not long before 
had been imprisoned and fined for saying that the magistrates 
had usurped upon the power of Christ in his church, and had 
persecuted Mr. Williams and another, whom they had banished 
for disturbing the peace by divulging their opinions against the 
authority of the magistrates, &c., but upon his submission his 
fine was remitted; and now, by his letter, he retracted his former 
submission and charged the court as he had done before. Now 
because the court knew that divers others of Providence were of 
the same ill affection to the coiu*t, and were probably suspected 
to be confederate in the same letter, the court ordered that if 
any of that plantation were found within our jurisdiction, he 
should be brought before one of the magistrates and if he would 
not disclaim the charge in the said letter, he should be sent 
home and charged to come no more into this jurisdiction, upon 
pain of imprisonment and further censured.^ 



^Winthrop, i, 185. 
^Winthrop, i, 256. 



CHAPTER XI 

Fully three years before the settlement of Providence, 
the relations between the white settlers and the natives 
had become quite strained. In 1633 two traders named 
Stone and Norton, were murdered by members of the 
Pequod tribe, who inhabited the region between the two 
rivers now known as the Pawcatuck and the Thames. 
The Pequods were the most formidable tribe in New 
England, and the Narragansetts, a much weaker tribe, 
held them in awe. The murder of the traders became 
known to the Plymouth Colony, which sent the intelli- 
gence to the Bay. The murder of John Oldham by a 
party of Indians, on board his own boat, off Block Island, 
followed soon after. ^ It was evident that the Pequods 
were preparing for a general war of extermination 
against the whites, and that they were attempting to form 
an alliance with the Narragansetts was certain. The 
New England colonies were alarmed at the prospect and 
were especially desirous of preventing, if possible, the 
suggested alliance between these two tribes. There 
was no one among the colonists who was so highly regarded 
by the Narragansetts as Roger Williams, and no one 
whose advice they would be so likely to accept. A re- 
quest therefore came to him from the Bay, that he would 
employ his good offices in the endeavor to induce the 
Narragansetts to turn aside the overtures of the Pequods 
for an offensive alliance against the whites, 

Williams did not hesitate, but at once set out for the 



^Winthrop, i, 1689, 190; et vide, Bradford, 231, 232. 



A Political Pioneer 149 

wigwam of Canonicus. It was a hazardous undertaking, 
miade doubly so by the presence of the Pequod envoys, 
whom he found in consultation with the sachems of the 
Narragansetts. At the peril of his life he remained for 
several days, surrounded by Indians, sleeping among 
them at night, having no protection save the influence of 
the friendly disposition which he had maintained toward 
the natives, since his first coming among them. In his 
letter to Winthrop, written from Plymouth, we have 
seen that his great desire was to do good to "the natives* 
souls." We know that he had dwelt among them for 
the purpose of learning their language, while at Plymouth 
and at Salem. He had so far won their affections that 
he had received from the sachems as an earnest of their 
good-will, the gift of a large tract of land, at the head 
waters of the Narragansett Bay. That which he now 
asked of them was, perhaps, the greatest possible test 
of their friendly disposition; and there can be no higher 
evidence of his winning manner and sweet spirit, — of 
his "many precious parts," — than the record of his 
success in this perilous undertaking. 

Sixteen years later, in the year 1654, addressing the 
General Court of Massachusetts Bay, upon a matter of 
public concern, Mr. Williams wrote: 

Roger Williams to the General Court of 
Massachusetts Bay. 

* >Jc :{; * * * 

I remember that upon the express advice of your ever honored 
Mr. Winthrop, deceased, I first adventured to begin a plantation 
among the thickest of these barbarians. That in the Pequot war 
it pleased your honored government to employ me in the hazard- 
ous and weighty service of negotiating a league between your- 
selves and the Narragansetts when the Pequot messengers, who 



150 Roger Williams 

sought the Narragansetts league against the English, had almost 
ended that my work and life together. 

That at the subscribing of that solemn league, which by the 
mercy of the Lord, I had procm-ed with the Narragansetts, 
your government was pleased to send unto me the copy of it, 
subscribed by all hands there, which yet I keep as a monument 
and a testimony of peace and faithfulness between you both.* 

This was not the only instance in which the Bay Colony 
made application to Mr. Williams to employ his good 
offices in influence with his Indian friends, during this 
critical time in the history of the New England colonies. 
Governor Winthrop in the same year makes this record : — 

1638, Mo. 6, 3 — Janemoh, the sachem of Niantic, had gone to 
Long Island and rifled some of those Indians which were tribu- 
taries to us. The sachem complained to our friends of Conne- 
ticut, who wrote us about it, and sent Capt. Mason, with seven 
men, to require satisfaction. The governour of the Massa- 
chusetts wrote also to Mr. Williams to treat with Miantunno- 
moh about satisfaction or otherwise bid them look for war.^ 

The letter of Williams, written to Major Mason, in 
the year 1670, — which has already more than once been 
quoted, — gives, in a somewhat egotistical tone, the story 
of his intervention, to avert an alliance between the Pe- 
quods and the Narragansetts. 

Roger Williams to Major Mason. 

Providence, June 22, 1670 (ut vulgo). 

When the next year after my banishment, the Lord drew the 
bow of the Pequod war against the country, in which Sir, the 
Lord made yourself, with others, a blessed instrument of peace 
to all New England, I had my share of service to the whole land 



Tlymouth Colony Records, x, 438; R. I. Col. Rec. i, 291; Pubs. Nar. 
Club, vi, 269. 
^Winthrop, i 267. 



A Political Pioneer 151 

in that Pequod business, inferior to very few that acted, for, 

1. Upon letters received from the Governor and council at 
Boston, requesting me to use my utmost and speediest endea- 
vors to break and hinder the league labored for by the Pequods 
against the Mohegans, and Pequods against the English, (ex- 
cusing the not sending of company and supplies, by the haste 
of the business,) the Lord helped me immediately to put my 
life into my hand, and scarce acquainting my wife, to ship my- 
self, all alone, in a poor canoe and to cut through a stormy wind, 
with great seas, every minute in hazard of life, to the Sachem's 
house. 

2. Three days and nights my business forced me to lodge and 
mix with the bloody Pequod ambassadors, whose hands and 
arms, methought, wreaked with the blood of my countrymen, 
murdered and massacred by them on Connecticut river, and 
from whom I could not but nightly look for their bloody knives 
at my own throat also, 

3. When God wondrously preserved me, and helped me to 
break to pieces the Pequods negotiation and design, and to 
make and promote and finish, by many travels and charges, 
the English league with the Narragansetts and Mohegans against 
the Pequods, and that the English forces marched up to the 
Narragansett country against the Pequods, I gladly entertained 
at my house in Providence, the General Stoughton and his 
officers and used my utmost care that all his officers and soldiers 
should be well accommodated with us. 

4. I marched up with them to the Narragansett Sachems, 
and brought my countrymen and the barbarians. Sachems and 
captains, to a mutual confidence and complacence each in 
other. 

5. Though I was ready to have marched further, yet upon 
agreement that I should keep at Providence, as an agent between 
the Bay and the army, I returned and was interpreter and intel- 
ligencer constantly receiving and sending letters to the Gov- 
ernor and Council at Boston, &c., in which work I judge 
it no impertinent discussion to recite, (out of the many scores 
of letters, at times, from Mr. Winthrop) this one pious and 



152 Roger Williams 

heavenly prophecy, touching all New England, of that gallant 
man, viz: "If the Lord turn away his face from our sins, and 
bless our endeavors and yours, at this time against our bloody 
enemy, we and our children shall long enjoy peace, in this our 
wilderness condition." And himself and some other of the 
Council motioned and it was debated, whether or no I had not 
merited, not only to be recalled from banishment, but also to 
be honored with some mark of favor. It is known who hindered, 
who never promoted the liberty of other men's consciences. 
These things and ten times more, I could relate, to show that I 
am not a stranger to the Pequod wars and lands, and possibly 
not far from the merit of a foot of land in either country, which I 
have not.^ 

Roger Williams. 

Aside from this statement of Roger Williams himself, 
there is ample evidence in the letters themselves, some 
of which are extant, of his excellent services as "intelli- 
gencer," during the continuance of the troubles with the 
Pequods. Governor Winthrop also makes frequent 
mention of letters received from Williams, during this 
trying period, which conveyed to the Bay, information 
of the greatest value in the conduct of the war.^ One 
of the most important of these gave information as to the 
whereabouts of the Pequod forces. 

Roger Williams to John Winthrop. 

For his much honored Mr. Governor, and Mr. Winthrop, 
Deputy Governor of the Maffachufetts, thefe. 

New Providence, this 2d of the week. [May, 1637.] 

Sir, — ^The latter end of the laft week I gave notice to our 
neighbor princes of your intentions and preparations againft the 



^Mass. Hist, Soc. Coll. i, 275; Pub. Nar. Club, vi, 
^Winthrop, i, 190, 191, 193, 196, 199, 223, 225, 226. 



A Political Pioneer 153 

common enemy, the Pequods. At my firft coming to them 
Canonicus {morofus ceque ac harharex fenex) was very fom*, and 
accufed the Englifh and myfelf for fending the plague amongft 
them, and threatening to kill him efpecially. 

Such tidings (it feems) were lately brought to his ears by fome 
of his flatterers and our ill-williers. I difcerned caufe of beftir- 
ring myfelf, and ftaid the longer, and at laft (through the mercy 
of the most High) I not only fweetened his fpirit, but poffeffed 
him, that the plague and other fickneffes were alone in the hand 
of the one God, who made him and us, who being difpleafed 
with the Englifh for lying, ftealing, idlenefs and uncleannefs, 
(the natives' epidemical fins,) fmote many thoufands of ourfelves 
with general and late mortalities. 

Miantunnomu kept his barbarous court lately at my houfe, 
and with him I have far better dealing. He takes fome pleafure 
to vifit me, and fent me word of his coming over again fome 
eight days hence. 

They pafs not a week without fome fkirmifhings, though 
hitherto little lofs on either fide. They were glad of your pre- 
parations, and in much conference with themselves and others, 
(fifting de induftria for inftructions from them,) I gathered 
thefe obfervations, which you may pleafe (as caufe may be) 
to confider and take notice of: 

1. They conceive that to do execution to purpofe on the 
Pequods, will require not two or three days and away, but a 
riding by it and following of the work to and again the fpace of 
three weeks or a month, that there be a falling off and a retreat, 
as if you were departed, and a falling on again within three or 
four days, when they are returned again to their houfes fecurely 
from their flight. 

2. That if any pinnaces come in ken, they prefently prepare 
for flight, women and old men and children, to a fwamp fome 
three or four miles on the back of them, a marvellous great and 
fecure fwamp, which they called Ohomowauke, which fignifies 
owl's neft, and by another name, Cuppocommock, which fignifies 
a refuge or hiding place, as I conceive. 

3. That therefore Nayantaquit, (which is Miantunnomue*s 



154 Roger Williams 

place of rendezvous,) to be thought on for the riding and retir- 
ing to of veffel or veffels, which place is faithful to the Narra- 
ganfetts and at present enmity with the Pequods. 

4. They alfo conceive it eafy for the English, that the pro- 
vifions and munitions firft arrive at Aquedneck, called by us 
Rhode Ifland, at the Narraganfet's mouth, and then a meffen- 
ger may be defpatched hither, and fo to the bay, for the foldiers 
to march up by land to the veffels, who otherwise might fpend 
long time about the cape and fill more veffels than needs. 

5. That the affault would be in the night, when they are com- 
monly more fecure and at home, by which advantage the Englifh, 
being armed, may enter the houfes and do what execution they 
pleafe. 

6. That before the affault be given, an ambufh be laid behind 
them, between them and the fwamp, to prevent their flight, &c. 

7. That to that purpofe fuch guides as fhall be beft liked of 
to be taken along to direct, efpecially two Pequots, viz. : Wequafh 
and Wuttackquickommin, valiant men, efpecially the latter, who 
have lived thefe three or four years with the Narraganfetts, and 
know every pafs and paffage amongft them, who defire armour 
to enter their houfes. 

8. That it would be pleafing to all natives, that women and 
children be fpared, &c. 

9. That if there be any more land travel to Connecticut, 
fome courfe would alfo be taken with the Wunhowatuckoogs, 
who are confederates with and a refuge to the Pequods. 

Sir, if any thing be fent to the princes, I find that Canonicus 
would gladly accept of a box of eight or ten pounds of sugar, 
and indeed he told me he would thank Mr. Governor for a box 
full. 

Sir, you may pleafe to take notice of a rude view, how the 
Pequods lie: 



A Political Pioneer 155 

65 



River Connecticut. 



O a fort of the Nay antic men, confederate with the Pequods 
Mohigadic 

River. 

Wein O shauks, where Ohom \ \ owauke, the swamp 
Sassaeus the chief Sachem is. three or four miles from- 
Mis O tick, where is Mamobo, another chief sachim. 

River. 

Nay antic, O where is Wepiteammock and our friends. 

River. 

Thus, with my beft falutes to your worthy felves and lovmg 
friends with you, and daily cries to the Father of mercies for a 
merciful iffue to all thefe enterprifes, I reft 

Your worfhip's unfeignedly refpective 

Roger Williams. 

Not only did the persuasions of Williams induce the 
Narragansetts to refrain from forming an alliance with 
the Pequods, but he succeeded also, as we have already 
learned, in committing the former to a friendship with the 
Bay people, and a continued hostility to their old enemies, 
the Pequods. In the summer of 1637 a party of Narra- 
gansetts succeeded in overpowering a company of Pe- 
quods and killed three. Following their barbarous habit 
a hand of each was cut off and the three hideous trophies 
were sent to Boston. One of those who fell was the 
leader of the party of Pequods who murdered Stone and 
Norton, four years before.^ This circumstance came to 



Tide. Winthrop, i, 237. 



156 Roger Williams 

the knowledge of Williams, and he wrote to Winthrop, 
deprecating the mutilation of the dead, but explaining 
that he had suffered the hands to be sent, lest he should, 
by objecting, incur the suspicion, on the part of the natives, 
of a feeling on his side, of superiority over them, and thus 
weaken his influence over them. 

Roger Williams to John Winthrop. 

To his much honored John Winthrop, Governor of the 

Maffachufetts. 

Much honored Sir, — I was fearful that thofe dead hands 
were no pleafing fight (otherwife than a remarkable vengeance 
had feized upon the firft murderer of the Englifh, Wauphanek,) 
yet I was willing to permit what I could not approve, leaft if 
I had buried the prefent myfelf, I should have incurred fuf- 
picion of pride and wronged my betters, in the natives and 
others eyes: I have always fhown diflike to fuch difmember- 
ing the dead, and now the more, (according to your defire) in 
your name. 

I was alfo fearful that mine own hand (having no commiflion 
from my heart) which is not in mine hand (but in the hand of 
its Maker, the Most High) to write you ought of mine own return 
in fpirituals, I fay fearful that mine own might not be fo grateful 
and pleafing to you: but being called upon by your mefl'age and 
your love, (your paper), I am emboldened. 

Concerning the Pequots, the foldiers here related to me that 
Uncas the Mohiganie Sachem had about three hundred men 
with him on the Pequod river, fome sixteen miles from the houfe, 
which I believe are most of them Pequods and their confederates 
the Wunnafhowatuckoogs and their Inlanders (whom he charged 
under pain of death not to come to Canonicus) and with whom 
he hath made himfelf great. This man is but a little Sachem, 
and hath not above forty or fifty Mohigans, which as the Englifh 
told me were all he could make. 

It is generally confirmed that Thomas Stanton, (as himfelf 
alfo confeffed to me at my houfe) was groffly coufened and 



A Political Pioneer 157 

deluded by one Wequafhcuck (a Nayantaqult Sachem) who 
fheltered four Pequod Sachems and fifty Pequods at Long Ifland, 
where now they are, where peace was made with promife from 
the natives to permit one Pequot; yet Wequafhcuck marrying 
Saffacous his mother hath thus deceived you. This Wequafh- 
cuck was the man (to my knowledge) that fheltered Audfah, 
the murderer of Mr. Oldham, and kept his head fo upon his 
fhoulders : yet to this man Thomas Stanton (as it appears) did too 
much listen, flighting I fear, too much the Narraganffetts. 

I find our Neighbors very eager to purfue thefe four Sachems 
and the fifty Pequods there, I prefFed them to patience till Mr. 
Governor's mind be known, and Miantunnomu (to my knowl- 
edge) doth all he can to reftrain them, or elfe long fince they 
had been there. They plead that ^ir. Governor may pleafe to 
accompany, or fend himfelf againft them, but cannot by any 
article in the league bind them to fuffer fo many of their enemies 
in a knot fo neare them. 

I preff them to humane confideration of fo much blood fpilt, 
they anfwer if they have the Sachems heads they will make the 
reft Narraganfetts, and for the Long Iflanders themselves and 
Wequafhcuck, they will not meddle with them, becaufe of the 
peace Mr. Stoughton made with them. 

Concerning the kettles: Miantunnomu anfwers, that he hath 
been much wronged by the reports of enemies and falfe friends 
to whom fome of us (as he faith) hath barkened before himfelf. 

He faith he never knew of more than two, one of which the 
Englifh ufed at the houfe, and the other as he hears is at the 
Fort ftill: he faith, he hath many of his own, and indeed when 
I came firft hither I faw near ten of twelve which himfelf or 
Canonicus had. 

He repaid me with a grievance about a Pequod canoe which 
he defired might be ordered by your own hearing, but it was 
denied him: his plea feems very fair: thus this brother Yoteafh 
having taken the great Sachem (Puttaquappuonckquame who 
was kept in the pinnace alive fometime) took his canoe, which, 
faith he, the Englifh Captains fitting all together were very 
willing unto: this canoe Mr. Stoughton afterwards brought 



158 Roger Williams 

about homeward: Miantunnomu and his brother claim it: 'twas 
denied: he requefted that it might be left at my houfe till Mr. 
Governor's mind was known. Capt. Stoughton would not 
yield, but desired him to go along to me, but faith he, I would 
not truft myself with him, feeing he would not ftand to Mr. 
Governor's determination about the canoe: I would not have 
mentioned this leaft it might provoke Mr. Stoughton or any: 
but I know to whom I intimate it: and I have pretty well ap- 
peafed the matter already. 

He anfwers, all I can object to him with this : let Mr. Governor 
have the hearing of it: I will reft in his word, and objecting to 
him in the particular before divers, that the Englifh complain 
he was proud, he defired that I would prefent to Mr. Governor 
thefe particulars, that he had cause to maintain his right, becaufe 
the Connecticut Englifh equalled Uncas and the Mohigans with 
himfelf and his men. 

Whereas faith he, thefe Mohigans are but a twig, we are as 
a great tree. 

They fell to the Englifh but laft year, we have been ever 
friends, &c. 

Uncas and his men had a hand in the death of all the Eng- 
lifh and fought againft the Rivers mouth (at Connecticut) we 
never killed nor confented to the death of an Englifh man. 

When the Dutchmen and we fought with the Pequods the 
Mohigans joined against us. 

When Capt. Endicott came againft the Pequoids the Mohigans 
received the Pequod women and children and kept them, while 
the men fought with him, &c. 

Uncas brought prefents to Canonicus, and Miantunnomu, yet 
at the same time killed two of his women treacheroufly. 

They fell to the Englifh this year in fear of other policy, and 
we, (faith he) have continued friendfhip and love ever fince 
they landed. Thus he pleaded, &c., and yet proud and covet- 
ous and filthy they are, &c., only I was willing to gratify him 
in this, becaufe as I know your own heart ftudies peace, and 
their foul's good, fo your wifdom may make ufe of it unto others 



A Political Pioneer 159 

who happily take feme pleafure in wars: The bleffed God of 
Peace be pleafed to give you peace within, at home, and round 
about you abroad So prays 

Your worfhip's unfeignedly refpective 

Roger Williams. 

To Mrs. Winthrop, Mr. Deputy, Mr. Bellingham, &c., all 
refpective falutations. 

I have at prefent returned Richard Collicut's Pequod girl, 
which Miantunnomu found out, and deiired me to fend home 
with promife of further enquiring. 

The statement of Williams, in his letter to the General 
Court, that a copy of the league with the Narragansetts 
was sent to him by the government of the Bay, is corrob- 
orated by Winthrop; but yet, it would appear that this 
copy was sent, not so much in compliment to Williams, 
and in recognition of the important part which he had 
played, as that he might interpret its contents to the 
sachems, to whom Winthrop had not been able to ex- 
plain its exact meaning. Governor Winthrop's record 
follows : — 

1636, 8 ber, 21. — Miantunnomoh the sachem of the Narra- 
gansett (being sent for by the Governour) came to Boston with 
two of Canonicus's sons and another sachem and near twenty 
sanaps. Cutshamakin gave us notice the day before. The 
governour sent twenty musketeers to meet him at Roxbury. He 
came to Boston about noon. The governour had called together 
most of the magistrates and ministers to give countenance to 
our proceedings and to advise with them about the terms of 
peace. It was dinner time and the sachems and their council 
dined by themselves in the same room where the governour dined, 
and their sanaps were sent to the inn. After dinner Miantun- 
nomoh declared what he had to say to us in [blank] propositions 
which were to this effect: That they had always loved the Eng- 
lish and desired firm peace with us; that they would continue in 



160 Roger Williams 

war with the Pequods and their confederates, till they were 
subdued; and desired we should do so: They would deliver 
our enemies to us or kill them. That if any of theirs should 
kill our cattle, that we would not kill them, but cause them to 
make satisfaction: That they would now make a firm peace 
and two months hence they would send us a present. 

The governour told them they should have answer the next 
morning. 

In the morning we met again and concluded the peace upon 
the articles underwritten, which the governour subscribed and 
they also subscribed with their marks and Cutshamakin also. 
But because we could not well make them understand the 
articles perfectly we agreed to send a copy of them to Mr. Williams 
who could best interpret them to them. So after dinner they took 
leave and were conveyed out of town by some musketeers and 
dismissed with a volley of shot. 

THE ARTICLES. 

1. A firm peace between us and our friends of other planta- 
tions, (if they consent) and their confederates, (if they will ob- 
serve the articles, &c.) and our posterities. 

2. Neither party to make peace with the Pequods without 
the other's consent. 

3. Not to harbor, &c., the Pequods, &c. 

4. To put to death or deliver over murderers, &c. 

5. To return our fugitive servants, &c. 

6. We to give them notice when we go against the Pequods 
and they to send us some guides. 

7. Free trade between us. 

8. None of them to come near our plantations during the 
wars with the Pequods, without some Englishman or known 
Indian. 

9. To continue to the posterity of both parties.* 

The Pequods, chagrined at their lack of success in turn- 



iWinthrop, i, 255. 



A Political Pioneer 161 

ing the Narragansetts against their white friends, proph- 
esied to them that they would yet find the EngHsh to 
be treacherous and not their friends. Not long after, a 
circumstance occurred which at first seemed to give a 
color to this opinion. Four young men of the Bay, from 
the serving class, left the settlement with the intent of 
going to the Dutch plantation at Manhattoes. Midway 
between the Boston and the Narragansett country, 
they sat down to rest and to smoke. While thus engaged, 
a Narragansett Indian passed by, whom they called and 
invited to stop and smoke with them. The Indian in- 
cautiously accepted the invitation. The party of whites, 
seeing that their visitor, who was a trader, had with him 
a large quantity of wampum, besides cloth and beads, 
murderously attacked him and, after robbing him, left 
him for dead. The Indian, who was mortally wounded, 
revived sufficiently to drag himself home, where he died 
of his hurts. 

His friends lying in wait for the murderers, captured 
three of them and delivered them to the authorities at 
Aquineck, where they were formally accused of robbery 
and murder. 

Let us read Bradford's quaint account of the sequel: — 

The Indians sent for Mr. Williams & made a greevous com- 
plainte; his friends and kinred were ready to rise in armes and 
provock the rest thereunto, some conceiving they should now 
find ye Pequents words trew: that ye English would fall upon 
them. But Mr. Williams pacified them, & tould them they 
should see justice done upon ye offenders; & wente to ye man & 
tooke Mr. James a phisition with him. The man tould him 
who did it and in what maner it was done; but ye phisition found 
his wounds mortall, and that he could not live, (as he after tes- 
tified upon othe, before ye jiuie in oppen courte) and so he dyed 
shortly after, as both Mr. Williams, Mr. James & some Indeans 



162 Roger iWilliams 

testified in courte. The Govrt in ye Bay were aquented with it, 
but reff erred it hither, because it was done in this jurisdiction; 
but pressed by all means yt justice might be done in it, or els ye 
countrie must rise and see justice done, otherwise it would raise 
a warr. Yet some of ye rude & ignorant sort murmured that 
any English should be put to death for ye Indeans. So at last 
they of ye iland brought them hither, and being often examened, 
and ye evidence prodused, they all in the end freely confessed in 
effect all yt the Indean accused them of, & that they had done 
it in ye maner afforesaid; and so, upon ye forementioned evi- 
dence, were, cast by ye jiu'ie, & condemned, & executed for the 
same. And some of ye Narigansett Indeans, & of ye parties 
freinds, were presente when it was done, which gave them & 
all ye countrie good satisfaction/ 



^Bradford, 434, et seq; et vide Winthrop, i, 267, et seq. 



CHAPTER XII 

We find Roger Williams, a year or more after his settle- 
ment at Providence, for the first time, — so far as we have 
any knowledge, — becoming interested in the theological 
tenets of the Anabaptists. Allusion has been made to 
some excesses and extravagancies of this sect, in the early 
portion of their history. These had been eliminated, 
in the century which had passed; and their belief in the 
invalidity of infant baptism was now the remnant of 
their creed which survived, and which many of the Sepa- 
ratists had embraced. There is no evidence that Will- 
iams, in England, in Boston, in Plymouth, or in Salem, 
had ever seriously examined these tenets. A year or 
two after his settlement at Providence, however, they 
seem to have been brought to his attention and consider- 
ation, by Mrs. Scott, a sister of Mrs. Anne Hutchinson, 
the leader of the famous antinomian controversy. And 
now comes into the narrative a singular character, who 
for a moment appears, and as quickly disappears. The 
records of the General Court of the Colony of Massa- 
chusetts Bay, under the date of the twelfth day of the 
first month, 1637-8 show this entry: 

Ezechiell Holliman appearing upon summons, because hee 
did not frequent the publike assemblyes & for seduceing many, 
hee was referd by the Court to the ministers for conviction/ 

From this entry it would appear that the Puritan the- 
ocracy in New England was disposed to adopt and en- 
force some, at least, of the provisions of the Act of Uni- 



^Records of Massachusetts Bay, i, 221. 



164 Roger Williams 

formity of Elizabeth. Holliman, who was a man in 
humble walks of life in Salem, seems to have resented 
the action of the General Court and, probably without 
waiting for the impending action of the ministers in his 
case, became a voluntary exile from the colony and 
repaired to Providence Plantations. That this removal 
was immediate is made certain from a record made by 
Governor Winthrop, in the same month and year in 
which the action of the General Court was taken. By 
this it appears that Holliman, at once, upon his arrival 
joined with Mrs. Scott in impressing upon Williams 
"the doctrines embodied in the tenets of the Anabaptists, 
and especially that sentiment which discarded a belief 
in the vaUdity of infant baptism. Winthrop 's record is 
of deep interest, as showing that Williams now yielded to 
the arguments and persuasions of Mrs. Scott and of 
Holliman, and committed himself fully, for the time 
being, to their tenets. Thus Governor Winthrop writes: 
1638, Mo. 1, 16. — At Providence things grew still worse; 
for a sister of Mrs. Hutchinson, the wife of one Scott, being 
infected with Anabaptistry and going last year to live at Provi- 
dence, Mr. "Williams was taken (or rather emboldened) by her 
to make open profession thereof, and accordingly was rebap- 
tised by one Holyman, a poor man, late of Salem. Then Mr. 
Williams rebaptized him and some ten more. They also denied 
the baptizing of infants and would have no magistrates.^ 

It is to be noted that, in none of the large number of 
the letters extant of Roger Williams, is mentioned the 
name of Holliman. Neither does it appear in this record 
of Winthrop, nor in similar records made by Morton, in 
his New England's Memorial, Hubbard in his History, 
or Mather, in his Magnalia, by what mode Holliman and 



^Winthrop, i, 293. 



A PoKtical Pioneer 165 

Williams performed these re-baptisms. There is some 
evidence, however that the practice of baptism by im- 
mersion, as a newly adopted mode, was presented to 
Mr. Williams's attention as a matter of interest, fully — 
eleven years after his baptism by Holliman. In Novem- 
ber, 1649, he thus wrote to Winthrop: 

Roger Williams to John Winthrop. 

At Seekonk a great many have lately concurred with Mr. 
John Clarke and our Providence men about the point of a new 
Baptism and the manner by dipping: and Mr. John Clarke had 
been there lately (and Mr. Lucor) and hath dipped them. I 
believe their practice comes nearer the first practice of our great 
Founder Christ Jesus, then other practices of our religion do, 
and yet I have not satisfaction, neither in the authority by which 
it is done, nor in the manner; nor in the prophesies concerning 
the rising of Christ's Kingdom after the desolations by Rome.' 

From this letter it must be understood that Williams, 
at the time at which it was written, still retained a belief 
in the non-efficacy of infant baptism — the leading tenet 
of the Anabaptists of that age, — but could not recognize 
the authority of any person to administer the ordinance, v- 
nor could he favor the mode of immersion, which some / 
of the sect had, by that time, adopted. 

For the sequence to this new departure of Williams 
we are forced again to search the records of the Massa- 
chusetts historians and annalists. Winthrop, whose 
record was contemporaneous, but who must have re- 
cieved his information at second-hand, thus relates it: 

1639. 5 Mo. [July]. — At Providence matters went after the -^ 
old manner. Mr. Williams and many of his company, a few 

Tubs. Nar. Club. vi. 188. 



166 Roger Williams 

months since, were in all haste re-baptized, and denied commu- 
nion with all others, and now he was come to question his second 
baptism, not being able to derive the authority of it from the 
apostles, otherwise than by the ministers of England (whom 
he judged to be ill authority) so as he conceived God would rise 
up some apostolick power, therefore he bent himself that way, 
expecting, (as was supposed) to become an apostle; and having, 
a little before, refused communion with all, save his own wife, 
now he would preach to and pray with all comers. Whereupon 
some of his followers left him and returned back from whence 
they went.* 

Cotton Mather explains the matter, and the position 
assumed by Williams more clearly, although at greater 
length : 

Upon the sentence of the court, Mr. Williams with his party 
going abroad, (as one says) to "seek their providences," removed 
into the southern parts of New England, where he, with a few 
of his own sect, settled a place called Providence. There they 
proceeded not only unto the gathering of a thing like a church, 

^"""^but unto the renouncing of their infant baptism; and at this 
further step of separation they stopped not, but Mr. Williams 
quickly told them "that being himself misled; he had led them 

" — likewise out of the way;" he was now satisfied that there was none 

— upon earth that could administer baptism, and so that their late 
baptism, as well as their first, was a nullity, for the want of a 
""called administration; he advised them therefore to forego all, 
to dislike everything and wait for the coming of new apostles; 
whereupon they dissolved themselves and became that sort of 
sect which we term seekers^ keeping to that one principle "that 
everyone should have the liberty to worship God according to 
the light of his own conscience;" but owning of no true churches 
or ordinances now in the world. ^ 

T" Within the brief space of a few weeks, therefore, we 

^Winthrop, i, 307. 

^Magnolia Christi Americana, ii, 498. 



A Political Pioneer 167 

find that Roger Williams, urged by Mrs. Scott and Hol- 
liman, had embraced the doctrines of the Anabaptists; 
discarded, or repudiated as invalid, the baptism received 
from the English church in infancy; accepted a new 
baptism at the hands of Holliman — himself unbaptized — ; 
repudiated, in turn, this re-baptism; and adopted the 
curious belief, that, whereas Christ did not transmit 
to his apostles, with their authority to baptize, the au- 
thority to transmit that authority in turn to others, there- 
fore there is in the world to-day no valid baptism. Yet, 
although deserted by Roger Williams, whom they, no 
doubt, hoped would have been their life-long leader, the 
little cluster of Anabaptists, who then formed them- 
selves into a church, increased and multiplied upon 
their foundation. Upon this foundation, thus established, 
stands today the First Baptist Church, of Providence, - 

which is the first Baptist church of America. i 

This episode, for it seems to have been little more than 
an episode in the life of Roger Williams, does not appear 
to have occupied his mind, to the exclusion of other, and — 
to him more important, controversial points. Soon after 
the departure of Williams from Salem, a controversy in 
writing sprang up between him and his old antagonist, 
John Cotton. The subject matter of the correspondence 
was mainly the contention of Williams, that it was a sin- 
ful thing for the members of the New England churches 
to hold communion with, or attend upon the services of, 
the churches of the Establishment, upon occasions when 
they might chance to be in England, upon more or less 
extended visits. In other words, it was a reiteration of 
the arguments respectively of the Puritan non-conformists 
and of the Separatists, and was probably an expansion of 
the discussion of years before, during the ride of Williams, 
Cotton and Hooker, to Sempringham. The opening 



168 Roger Williams 

letters of this correspondence are not preserved, but it 
is believed that it was begun by John Cotton, in the en- 
deavor to convince Williams that his contentions with 
the Massachusetts colonists were builded upon "sandie" 
foundations. 

In the year 1643, there appeared in print in London, 
a letter of Cotton addressed to Williams, after the method 
of the pamphleteers. Williams was now in London, 
sent over as an agent of the new colony to endeavor to 
procure a royal charter. This letter as before shown, 
dealt especially with the contentions of the two concerning 
the question of communion or intercourse with the En- 
glish church. It is evident, however, that in a letter 
which had previously passed from Williams to Cotton, 
the writer had charged upon his correspondent an es- 
pecial personal responsibility for his banishment. Mr. 
Cotton departs from the line of his argument sufficiently 
to endeavor to refute this charge. 

" Let not any prejudice against my person, (I beseech you) '* 
writes John Cotton, " forestall either your affection or judgement, 
as if I had hastened forward the sentence of your civill banish- 
ment; for what was done by the magistrates in that kinde, was 
neither done by my counsell nor consent, although I dare not 
deny the sentence passed to be righteous in the eyes of God, 
who hath said that he that with-holdeth the Corne (which is the 
staffe of life) from the people, the multitude shall curse him. 
Prov. 11, 26, how much more shall they separate such from 
them as doe withhold and separate them from the Ordinances, 
or the Ordinances from them (which are in Christ the bread of 
life) And yet it may be they passed that sentence against you not 
upon that ground, but for aught I know, upon your other cor- 
rupt doctrines, which tend to the disturbance both of civill and 
holy peace, as may appeare by that answer which was sent to 
the Brethren of the Church of Salem and to your selfe. And to 
speake freely what I thinke, were my soul in your souls stead, 



A Political Pioneer 169 

I should thinke it a worke of mercy of God to banish me from 
the civill Society of such a Commonwealth when I could not 
in joy holy fellowship with any church of God amongst them 
without sin. What should the daughter of Zion doe in Babell ? 
Why should she not hasten to flee from thence ? Zach. 2, 6, 70.* 

To this letter Mr. Williams made an early reply, which 
was published in London, in the year following the pub- 
lication of the letter of Cotton. In this reply Williams, 
in a prefatory note addressed "To the Impartiall Reader," 
gives a resume of the correspondence which had preceded. 
In this he asserts that Mr. Cotton claims to have pro- 
tested, "both in speech and writing," that he was no 
procurer of the sorrows of Mr. Williams. To this prot- 
estation Williams had made reply that if he "had perished 
in that sorrowful winter's flight, only the blood of Jesus 
Christ could have washed" Mr. Cotton from the guilt of 
his death. To this Mr. Cotton had rejoined: "Had you 
perished, your blood had beene on your owne head; it 
was your sinne to procure it, and your sorrow to suffer 
it." 

At this point the correspondence appears to have 
ceased, to be reopened later, after the appearance in 
print of the letter of Mr. Cotton, as already narrated. 
Mr. Williams' reply was written in England, during the 
visit which was made for the purpose of procuring a 
charter for the colony, as already explained. In this 
epistle he takes up the points of Mr. Cotton's letter seria- 
tim, and replies to them in true controversial style. In 
this he likewise refers to his banishment and its causes, 
in these words: 

But because the Reader may aske both Mr. Cotton and me, 
what were the grounds of such a sentence of Banishment against 



Publications of Narragansett Club, i, 13. 



170 Roger Williams 

me, which are here called sandie, I shall relate in brief what 
those grounds were, some whereof he is pleased to discusse in 
this letter and others of them not to mention. 

After my publike triall and answers at the generall Court, one 
of the most eminent magistrates (whose name and speech may 
by others be remembered) stood up and spake: 

"Mr. Williams," (said he) "holds forth these 4 particulars: 

" First. That we have not our land by Pattent from the King, 
but that the natives are the true owners of it, and that we ought 
to repent of such a receiving it by Pattent. 

"Secondly. That it is not lawfull to call a wicked person to 
Sweare, to Pray, as being actions of God's worship. 

"Thirdly. That it is not lawfull to heare any of the ministers 
of the Parish Assemblies in England. 

" Fourthly. That the Civill Magistrates power extends only to 
the Bodies and Goods and outward state of men, &c." 

I acknowledge the particulars were rightly summ'd up and 
I also hope that, as I then maintained the Rockie strength of 
them to my own & other consciences satisfaction so (through 
the Lord's assistance) I shall be ready for the same grounds, 
not only to be bound and banished, but to die also, in New 
England, as for most holy Truths of God in Jesus Christ.^ 

This reply of Williams was followed by a rejoinder by 
Cotton, published under the title: A Reply to Mr. 
Williams his Examination and Answer of the Letters sent 
to him by John Cotton. In this rejoinder Cotton makes a 
still wider departure than did Williams, from the main 
topic of his discourse, and gives reply at considerable 
length, and with no little warmth, to those statements of 
Williams concerning the causes of his banishment. With 
great vigor Cotton assails the position of Williams, that 
it was sinful for the members of the New England churches 
to attend upon divine worship in the churches of the 



iPub. of Nar. Club, i, 40. 



A Political Pioneer 171 

English Establishment; and he maintains by argument 
the attitude assumed by Higginson, as he stood upon the 
prow of the vessel which was bearing him to the New 
World and^its possibilities, and saw the shores of England 
recede from his view. Diverging from this argument 
he assails the statements made by his antagonist con- 
cerning his banishment, and the circumstances which 
led up to it, in these words: 

It was not my intent in that Letter which he examineth, to 
discusse the grounds of his Civill Banishment at all, neither did 
I discusse one or other of them. And it is a preposterous shifting 
of the State of the Question, to put it upon me to give account of 
the causes of his Banishment, who neither did banish him, nor 
provoked the Court to banish him out of the Countrey. The 
Magistrates and Deputies of the Common-wealth (who were 
then the Members of that Court) are all of them of age, and able 
themselves to give account of their own actions. To them or 
some of them he should in reason have addressed himselfe for 
satisfaction in this case (if any were due) and not to me, who 
am seldome present at any Civill Court, (if not more seldome) 
then any man of our calling in Towne of Countrey, where the 
Courts are kept. It were more than ^Egyptian bondage to me, 
and more than Pharaonicall tyranny in him, to exact of me, an 
account of all the capitall, or notable sentences of Judgement, 
which passe in all the Civill Courts of Justice in the Countrey, 
unlesse I had a calling to sit amongst them. 

But why did I then endeavour in my Letter to shew him the 
sandiness of those grounds upon which he had banished him- 
selfe, &c. If I did not meane to declare and discuss the causes 
of his banishment. 

He doth very well and wisely to expresse the Ground upon 
which I said he banished himself with an &c. For he knows 
that if I had related my whole sentence in my own words, he 
had cut himselfe from all opportunitie of pleading with me the 
causes of his Civill Banishment. 

My words are plaine, — I endeavour to shew you the sandiness 



172 Roger Williams 

of those grounds, upon which you have banished your selfe from 
the fellowship of all the churches in these Countreyes. 

It is one thing to banish ones selfe (or to be banished) out of 
the fellowship of all the churches in the Countrey; another thing 
to banish ones selfe (or to be banished) out of the Countrey. 
There be at this day that banish (and separate) themselves 
from all the Churches in the Countrey, and yet are not banished 
out of the Countrey: and there be that are banished out of the 
Countrey, and yet are not banished out of the fellowship of all 
the Churches in the Countrey. Himselfe hath separated (and 
so banished himselfe) from the fellowship of all the Churches in 
the world: and yet he hath not banished himselfe out of the 
world. 

But though it be impertinent to my letter to discusse the 
grounds of his Civill Bannishment; yet since he is pleased (by 
hook or crook) to draw it in, I referre the Reader for Answer 
to a full Treatise of that Argument, penned by a reverend faith- 
full Brother, (the Teacher of the Church at Rocksbury;)^ and 
withall as I have touched somewhat of it above in Answer to 
his Preface, so I shall speak a word or two more unto it here. 

Whom that Eminent Magistrate was, that so summed up the 
grounds of Mr. Williams his Bannishment in those foure par- 
ticulars above mentioned Mr. Williams doth wisely conceale 
his name, lest if he evere named, he should be occasioned to 
beare witnesse against such fraudulent expression of the par- 
ticulars; whereof some were no causes of his Banishment at all, 
and such as were causes, were not delivered in such generall 
Tearmes. For in universalibus latet Dolus. It is evident the 
two latter causes which he giveth of his Banishment were no 
causes at all, as he expresseth them. There are many knowne 
to hold both these Opinions. That it is not lawfull to heare 
any of the Ministers of the Parish Assemblies in England, and 
that the Civill Magistrates power Extends only to the bodies, and 
goods, and outward Estates of Men; and yet they are tolerated 

*The reference is, beyond doubt, to Rev. John Eliot, although no 
such treatise from his pen is now extant. 



A Political Pioneer 173 

not only to live in the Commonwealth, but also in the fellowship 
of the Churches. 

The two former, though they be not so much noysed, yet 
there be many, if not most, that hold, That we have not our 
Land, meerly by right of Patent from the King, but that the Natives 
are true owners of all that they possesse, or improve. Neither doe 
I know any amongst us, that either then were, or now are of 
another minde. 

And as for the other Point; That it is not lawful to call a 
Wicked Person to sweare, or pray. 

Though that be not commonly held, yet it is knowne to be 
held of some, who yet are tolerated to enjoy both Civill, and 
Church liberties amongst us. 

To come therefore to Particulars; Two things there were, 
which (to my best observation and remembrance) caused the 
sentence of his Banishment; and two other fell in, that hastened it. 

1. His violent and tumultuous carriage against the Patent. 

By the Patent it is, that we receved allowance from the King 
to depart his Kingdome, and to carry our goods with us, without 
offence to his Oflficers, and without paying custome to himselfe, 

By the Patent, certain select men (as Magistrates and Free- 
men) have power to make Lawes, and the Magistrates to execute 
Justice, and Judgement amongst the People, according to such 
Lawes. 

By the Patent we have Power to erect such a Government 
of the Church, as is most agreeable to the Word, to the estate of 
the People, and to the gaining of Natives (in God's time) first 
to Civility and then to Christianity. 

To this Authority established by this Patent, English-men doe 
readily submit themselves; and foraine Plantations (the French, 
the Dutch, and Swedish) doe willingly transact their negotia- 
tions with us, as with a Colony established by the Royall Au- 
thority of the State of England. 

This Patent Mr. Williams publickly and vehemently preached 
against, as containing matter of falshood, and injustice: Fals- 
hood in making the King the first Christian Prince who dis- 
covered these parts — and injustice in giving the Countrey to his 



174 Roger Williams 

English Subjects, which belonged to the Native Indians. This 
therefore he pressed upon the Magistrates and people, to be 
humbled for from time to time in dayes of solemne Humiliation; 
and to returne the Patent back againe to the King. It was an- 
swered to him, first. That it was neither the King's intendement 
nor the English Planters to take possession of the Countrey by 
murther of the Natives, or by robbery; but either to take posses- 
sion of the voyd places of the Countrey by the Law of Nature, 
(for Vacuum Domicilium cedit occupanti:) or if we tooke any 
Lands from the Natives, it was by way of purchase, and free 
consent. 

A little before our coming, God had by pestilence, and other 
contageous diseases, swept away many thousands of the Natives, 
who had inhabited the Bay of Massachusets, for which the 
Patent was granted. Such few of them as survived were glad of 
the coming of the English, who might preserve them from the 
oppression of the Nahargansets. For it is the manner of the 
Natives, the stronger Nations to oppresse the weaker. 

This answer did not satisfie Mr. Williams, who pleaded the 
Natives, though they did not, nor could subdue the Countrey. 
(but left it vacuum Domicilium) yet they hunted all the countrey 
over, and for the expedition of their hunting voyages, they burnt 
up all the underwoods in the Countrey, once or twice a yeare, 
and therefore as Noble men in England possessed great Parkes, 
and the King great Forrests in England onely for their game, 
and no man might lawfully invade their Propriety: So might the 
Natives challenge the like Propriety of the Countrey here. 

It was replied unto him. 1. That the King, and Noble men 
in England, as they possessed greater Territories then other 
men. So they did greater service to Church and Common-wealth. 

2. That they employed their Parkes and Forrests, not for 
hunting onely, but for timber, and for the nourishment of tame 
beasts, as well as wild, and also for habitation to sundry Tenants. 

3. That our Townes here did not disturb the huntings of the 
Natives, but did rather keepe their Game fitter for their taking; 
for they take their Deere by Traps, and not by Hounds. 

4. That if they complained of any straites wee put upon them, 



A Political Pioneer 175 

wee gave satisfaction in some payments or other, to their content. 

5. We did not conceive that it is a just Title to so vast a Con- 
tinent, to make no other improvement of millions of Acres in it, 
but onely to burne it up for pastime. 

But these Answers not satisfying him, this was still pressed 
by him as a Nationall sinne, to hold to the Patent, yea, and a 
Nationall duty to renounce the Patent: which to have done, had 
subverted the fundamental! State, and Government of the 
Countrey. 

II, jThe second offence which procured his Banishment, was 
occasioned as I touched before. The Magistrates and other 
members of the Generall Court, upon ntelligence of some 
Episcopall and malignant practises against the Countrey, they 
made an order of Court to take tryall of the fidelity of the People, 
(not by imposing upon them, but) by offering to them an Oath 
of Fidelitie: that in case any should refuse to take it, they might 
not betrust them with place of publick change and Command. 
This Oath when it came abroad, he vehemently withstood it, 
and disswaded sundry from it, partly because it was, as he said, 
Christ's Prerogative to have his Office established by Oath: 
partly because an Oath was a part of God's worship, and God's 
worship was not to be put upon carnall persons, as he conceived 
many of the People to be. So by his Tenent neither might 
Church-members, nor other godly men, take the Oath, because 
it was the establishment not of Christ, but of mortall men in 
their office; nor might men out of the Church take it, because in 
his eye they were but carnall. So the Court was forced to desist 
from that proceeding; which practice of his was held to be the 
more dangerous, because it tended to unsettle all the Kingdomes 
and Common-wealths in Europe. 

These were (as I tooke it) the causes of his Banishment: two 
other things fell in upon these that hastened the sentence. The 
former fell out thus : The Magistrates discerning by the former 
passages, the heady and turbulent spirit of Mr. Williams, both 
they and others advised the Church of Salem not to call him to 
office in their Church; neverthelesse, the major part of the Church 
made choice of him. Soone after, when the Church made suit to 



176 Roger Williams 

the Court for a parcel! of Land adjoyning to them, the Court 
delayed to grant their Request (as hath been mentioned before) 
because the Church had refused to harken to the Magistrates, 
and others in forbearing the choice of Mr. Williams. Whereupon 
Mr. Williams took occasion to stirre up the Church to joyne 
with him in writing Letters of Admonition unto all the Churches, 
whereof those Magistrates were members, to admonish them of 
their open transgression of the Rule of Justice. Which Letters 
coming to the severall Churches, provoked the Magistrates to 
take the more speedy course with so heady and violent a Spirit. 
But to prevent his sufferings, (if it might be) it was mooved by 
some of the Elders, that themselves might have liberty (ac- 
cording to the Rule of Christ) to deale with him, and with the 
Church also in a Church-way. It might be the Church might 
heare us and he the Church; which being consented to some of 
our churches wrote to the Church of Salem, to present before 
them the offensive Spirit and way of their Officer, (Mr. Williams) 
both in Judgment and Practise. The Church finalb Degan to 
hearken to us, and accordingly began to addresse themselves to 
the healing of his Spirit. Which he discerning; renounced 
communion with the Church of Salem, pretending they held 
communion with the Churches in the Bay, and the Churches 
in the Bay held communion with the Parish- Churches in Eng- 
land, because they suffered their members to heare the word 
amongst them in England, as they came over into their native 
Countrey. He then refusing to resort to the Publick Assembly 
of the Church. Soone after sundry began to resort to his Family, 
where he preached to them on the Lord's day. But this carriage 
I of his in renouncing the Church upon such an occasion and with 
them all the Churches in the Countrey and the spreading of his 
Leaven to sundry that resorted to him; this gave the Magis- 
trates the more cause to observe the heady unrulelinesse of his 
Spirit, and the incorrigiblenesse thereof by any "!hurch-way, 
all the Churches in the Countrey being then renr- / ' ' him, 
And this was the other occasion which hastent 
of his Banishment, upon the former Grounds.^ 

Tublications of the Narragansett Club, ii, 41, et seq. 



CHAPTER XIII 

Roger Williams was now in England, as we have al- 
ready seen, engaged in the attempt to procure a charter 
for the young colony, an attempt which finally proved 
successful. He had set sail from New Amsterdam in 
June or July, 1643. Upon reaching the Dutch colony 
he again found employment for his services as a pacificator. 
Governor Winthrop relates the incident: 

1643. Mo. 4, 20. — There fell out hot wars between the Dutch 
and the Indians thereabout. The occasion was this. An 
Indian being drunk had slain an old Dutchman. . . . The 
Indians also of Long Island took part with their neighbours 
upon the' aain, and as the Dutch took away their corn, so they 
fell to burning the Dutch houses. But these, by the mediation 
of Mr. Williams, who was there to go in a Dutch ship for Eng- 
land, were pacified and peace re-established between the Dutch 
and them.* 

The visit of Mr. Williams to England marks the be- 
ginning of the period of his highest literary activity. He 
was already engaged, as "we have seen, in his controver- 
sial correspondence with John Cotton. There was no 
intent, probably, in the minds of either, to make any 
portion of this correspondence public. Both disclaimed 
responsibility for the appearance of the first of these 
letters which was published; but, the letter having been 
made public, — doubtless by some friend of Williams in 
England, t whom he had shown it — the correspondence 
was " 'i by both parties, in print, as has already 



97. 



178 Roger Williams 

Upon the voyage Williams had employed his pen in 
the production of a remarkable work, which chiefly 
served to win for him a place as a man of letters. This 
was his Key into the Languages of America^ a work which, 
in the original edition, is now excessively rare and much 
sought by the bibliophile.* The work was published in 
London, soon after his arrival, in 1643, and attracted 
instant attention from philologists and other scholars. 

Mr. Williams reached England at the time when the 
country was in the throes of civil war. The Long Parlia- 
ment was in session. Prynne had been released from 
prison and had passed through the streets of London 
amid the plaudits of the populace. The Earl of Strafford 
had been impeached and had died upon the scaffold, 
receiving through prison bars, the blessing of Archbishop 
Laud, as he passed on his way to the place of death. The 
Star Chamber had been abolished; Charles had fled 
from London; Edgehill had been fought; and throughout 
the country rang the call to arms. The throne of Eng- 
land was tottering to its fall. 

For more than a year Williams remained in London, 
engaged for the most part in negotiating with the members 
of Parliament for the charter for his colony. The opera- 
tions of the Puritan army about Newcastle had caused a 
cessation, entire or in part, of the mining of coal, and the 
people of London, and especially the poor, were suffering 
for fuel. Wood was scarce and dear, and Williams, 
seeing the great need of the poor of the city, occupied 
himself in the amelioration of their distress. 

In one of his later writings Mr. Williams, — who appears 
to have been somewhat fond of recounting his deeds — 
alludes to this episode in his life. 



Reprinted in Pubs. Nar. Glub, v, 1. 



A Political Pioneer 179 

It is not unknown to many witnesses in Plymmouth, Salem and 
Providence, that the discussers time hath not been spent (though 
as much as any others whosoever) altogether in spiritual labors 
and publike exercises of the Word, but day and night, at home 
and abroad, on the land and water, at the How, at the Oare, 
for bread ; yea and I can tell that when these discussions were 
prepared for publike in London his time was eaten up in atten- 
dance upon the service of Parliament and city for the supply of 
the poor of the city with wood (during the stop of coals from 
Newcastle, and the mutinies of the poor for firing) 'Tis true, 
he might have run the road of preferment, as well in Old as 
New England, and have had the leasiu-e and time of such who 
eat and drink with the drunken, and smite with the fist of wicked- 
ness their fellow servants: But God is a most holy witness that 
these meditations were fitted for publike view in change of 
rooms and corners, yea sometimes (upon occasion of travel in 
the country, concerning that business of fuell) in variety of 
strange houses, sometimes in the fields, in the midst of travels 
where he hath been forced to gather and scatter his loose thought, 
and papers.^ 

Notwithstanding that his time was so fully occupied 
in this manner, Mr. Williams still found time, as he has 
shown us, for literary work. His epistolary controversy 
with John Cotton was closely followed by a far more 
elaborate discussion with the same antagonist. There 
soon appeared from his pen, a book entitled. The Bloudy 
Tenent of Persecution. Three years later a reply to this 
appeared, of which John Cotton was the author, entitled: 
The Bloudy Tenant Washed and Made White in the 
Blood of the Lamb. In 1652 a rejoinder appeared, from 
the pen of Williams, to which he gave the title: The 
Bloudy Tenant made yet more Bloudy through Mr. Cotton* s 
Attempt to Wash it White. 



^The Bloudy Tenant yet more Bloudy,— Pub. Nar. Club, iv, 103. 



180 Roger Williams 

In the first named of these works Mr. Williams appears 
for the first time, distinctively as the advocate of the 
doctrine of entire liberty of conscience in religious matters. 
But this is not all; for in this book this author distinctly 
enunciates a doctrine which, even in that day of popular 
uprising, was not common; a doctrine which lay dormant 
until, one hundred and thirty- two years later, it was again 
enunciated, and upon it was a Great Republic founded. 
I In May, 1776, the Virginia House of Delegates adopted 

' a Declaration of Rights. It was framed by James Mad- 
ison, who, later, became a President of the United States. 
In this Declaration Madison wrote: 

All power is vested in and consequently derived from the 
people; magistrates are their trustees and servants and at all 
times amenable to them. Government is, or ought to be, in- 
stituted for the common benefit and security of the people, 
nation or community; and whenever any government shall be 
found inadequate or contrary to these purposes, a majority of 
the community hath an indubitable, unalienable and inde- 
feasible right to reform, alter, or abolish it, in such a manner 
as shall be judged most conducive to the public weal.* 

Two months after the adoption of this bill by the 
British Colony of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson wrote, and 
the representatives of the United Colonies, in Congress 
assembled declared: — 

We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created 
equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain in- 
alienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pur- 
suit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are 
instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the con- 
sent of the governed; that whenever any form of government 
becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people 
to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government, 

'Bancroft, iv, 417. 



A Political Pioneer 181 

laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its 
powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect 
their safety and happiness.* 

To these principles George the Third could not assent; 
no doubt they were, to him, as novel as they were sub- 
versive of order and of royal sovereignty. And yet; Roger 
Williams, in 1644, had written, in his work, The Bloudy 
Tenant of Persecution 

Whereas they say that the Civill Power may erect and es- 
tablish what forme of civill Government may seeme in wisdome 
most meet, I acknowledge the proposition to be most true, both 
in itself and also considered with the end of it, that a civill 
Government is an Ordinance of God to conserve the civill peace 
of people, so farre as concernes their bodies and Goods as for- 
merly hath beene said. 

But from this Grant I infer (as before hath been touched) 
that the Soveraigne, originall and foundation of Civill power 
lies in. the People, (whom they must needs meane by the civill 
power distinct from the Government set up.) And if so that a 
People may erect and establish what forme of Government 
seemes to them most meete for their civill condition : it is evident 
that such governments as are by them errected and established 
have no more power, nor for no longer time, then the civill 
power, or people consenting and agreeing shall betrust them 
with. This is cleere not only in Reason but in the experience 
of all Commonweales, where the people are not deprived of 
their natural freedom by the power of Tyrants.^ | 

This, Mr. Williams's first controversial work, is divided 
into two parts. The first is, in effect, an elaboration of 
his correspondence with John Cotton, although it does 
not appear directly to be a continuation of it. The 
second is a discussion of a d a reply to a pamphlet en- 
titled A Model of Church and Civil Power, the author- 



^Declaration of Independence. 

^The Blmdy Tenant of Persecution.— Fuh. Nar. Club, iii, 249, 250. 



182 Roger Williams 

ship of which Mr. Williams ascribes to John Cotton, but 
which the latter afterward disclaimed. 

The first part, — while incidentally a continuation of 
the Williams-Cotton epistolary controversy, — is, in reality, 
an examination and discussion of a certain writing, which 
Cotton declares to have been sent to him by Williams 
years before for his examination, and which he publicly 
discussed and criticised. This paper appears to have 
been received by Cotton, at or about the time of the 
banishment of Williams, which circumstance may have 
produced upon the mind of Cotton the impression that 
it had been sent to him by his chief antagonist. At all 
events, John Cotton did examine and publicly criticise 
the treatise, which is said to have been written by a non- 
conformist, confined in Newgate prison. It is this criti- 
cism to which Williams makes elaborate reply in the first 
part of The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution. 

Mr. Cotton made reply in his treatise. The Bloudy 
Tenant Washed and made White in the Blood of the Lamb; 
which appeared three years after the publication of the 
book to which it was intended to be a reply. In his 
opening Mr. Cotton says: 

Mr. Williams sent me, about a dozen years agoe, (as I remem- 
ber) a letter, penned (as he wrote) by a Prisoner in Newgate, 
touching persecution for Conscience sake, and intreated my 
judgement of it for the satisfaction of his friend. 

This letter proves to have been a portion of a treatise, 
published anonymously in 1620, under the title : A Most 
Humble Supplication of the King's Majesty's Loyal 
Subjects^ ready to testify all Civil Obedience, by the 
oath of Allegiance, or otherwise, and that of Conscience; 
who are persecuted {only for differing in Religion) con- 
trary to Divine and Human Testimonies; As followeth: 

The authorship of this pamphlet has never satisfac- 



A Political Pioneer 183 

torily been determined. In Mr. Williams's rejoinder to 
Cotton's reply, — published in 1652, under the title The 
Bloudy Tenent made yet more Bloudy through Mr. Cotton's 
Attempt to Wash it White, — he denies having sent the 
fragment of the Newgate prisoner's treatise to Mr. Cotton 
for his judgment, and suggests that it may have been 
sent him by "One Master Hall of Roxbury."* But 
this question does not appear to be a matter of moment. 
It chiefly concerns us to know that Mr. Cotton made pub- 
lic his criticism of the Newgate prisoner's argument, and 
to this criticism Williams, some years after its publication, 
makes reply in The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution. The 
literary form is somewhat quaint, the author typifying 
the genii of Truth and Peace, discoursing. The portion 
which discloses the manner in which the original treatise 
was written and made public is of curious interest: — 

Truth. Sweet Peace, what hast thou there.? 

Peace. Arguments against persecution for cause of Con- 
science. 

Truth. And what there ? 

Peace. An Answer to such Arguments contrarily main- 
taining such persecution for cause of Conscience. 

Truth. These Arguments against such persecution, and the 
Answer pleading for it, written, (as Love hopes) from godly 
intentions, hearts and hands, yet in a mervellous different style 
and manner. The Arguments against persecution in milke, 
the Answer for it (as I may say) in bloud. 

The Authour of these Arguments (against persecution) (as I 
have beene informed), being committed by some then in power, 
close prisoner to Newgate, for the witnesse of some truths of 
Jesus, and having not the use of Pen and Inke, wrote these 
Arguments in Milke, in sheets of Paper, brought to him by the 
woman his Keeper, from a friend in London, as the stopples of 
his Milk bottle. 



^The Bloudy Tenent yet mare Bloudy, Pub. Nar. Club, iv, 54. 



184 Roger Williams 

In such Paper written with Milk nothing will appeare, but 
the way of reading it by fire being knowne to this friend who 
received the Papers, he transcribed and kept together the Papers, 
although the Author himselfe could not correct nor view what 
himselfe had written.^ 

In this treatise Mr. Williams, in a vigorous manner 
presents the ideas of liberty in matters of conscience, a 
principle which was by no means a discovery of his own, 
but only a vigorous adaptation. The words of William 
of Orange, already quoted, shoV that, nearly a century 
before these controversial books saw the light of print, 
that enlightened monarch had firmly planted his feet 
upon a platform which Williams, in his day, rebuilt and 
re-established. The channel through which this grand idea 
was transmitted, is not difiScult to trace, when one re- 
members the great hegira of Separatists from England to 
Holland, and their return to their own country, when 
the storm cloud seemed, in a measure, about to clear 
away. In his treatise to which this book is a reply, Mr. 
Cotton has referred to a certain tract, then recently pub- 
lished anonymously, under the title : A Model of Church 
and Civil Power. This tract Cotton designated as "a 
treatise sent to some of the Brethren late of Salem." Its 
purpose was, evidently, to discuss and decide the question, 
then prominently appearing before the forum of public 
opinion, of the proper boundary to be drawn between 
the civil and the ecclesiastical power. The position 
assumed by the writer of this pamphlet — whom Mr. 
Williams erroneously assumes to have been Cotton — 
is attacked by Williams in his argument, the same liter- 
ary form being employed as in the earlier portion of the 
work. It is in this second part of his work, in which occurs 
the remarkable parallelism which has been quoted. 

^The Bloudy Tenant of Persecution, Pubs. Nar. Club, iii, 61. 



A Political Pioneer 185 

In this work which, in one aspect, is the most impor- 
tant which Williams had yet written, the author made a 
distinct advance in literary style. In his previous writ- 
ings, — if one may possibly except his Keij into the Indian 
Languages of America, much of which is in tabular form 
— he had distinctly failed to acquire a clear and succinct 
English style. Indeed, his meaning is often obscure. 
We have evidence that this was the case, in the first of 
his formal writings of which we have any record, namely, 
his attack upon the patent, written while he was in Plym- 
outh and afterward offered by him to be burnt, by the 
authorities of the Bay. Governor Winthrop, it is re- 
membered, characterized it as "written in very obscure 
and implicative phrases," which "might well admit of 
doubtful interpretation."^ The very earliest extant of 
his writings — the two letters to Lady Barrington — are 
examples of this peculiar obscurity of diction, for which 
his earlier writings are distinguished. 

When Roger Williams arrived in England the West- 
minster Assembly was in session in London, engaged in 
the preparation of the confession of faith, the catechism 
and other forms of church doctrine and discipline, in 
accordance with the principles of the Church of Scotland. 
The majority of the members of the Assembly were staunch 
Presbyterians; but there was among them a considerable 
contingent of Independents. In the early part of the 
year 1644, a treatise appeared, being set forth by the five 
Independent leaders in the Assembly. This was entitled 
''An Apologetical Narration, humbly submitted to the 
Honorable Houses of Parliament, by Thomas Goodwin, 
Philip Nye, Sidrach Simpson, Jeremiah Burroughs and 
William Bridge. " Replies to this treatise were published 



^Winthrop, i, 123. 



186 Roger Williams 

by Presbyterian members. This controversy, as was 
natural, attracted the attention of Mr. Williams, and he 
prepared a treatise, in which he reviewed the discussion 
and made reply to the contestants upon both sides. This 
treatise was entitled, Queries of Highest Consideration , 
and, in its title is addressed to the five Independent leaders 
by name, and to "the Commissioners from the General 
Assembly (so called) of the Church of Scotland, upon 
occasion of their late printed apologies for themselves 
and their Churches: in all humble Reverence presented" 
to the view of the Right Honorable the Houses of the High 
Court of Parliament." This treatise was published 
anonymously, but the authorship has been fixed upon 
Roger Williams, both by internal evidence, and by a 
passage in Cotton's Answer to Master Roger Williams^ 
his Examination. This pamphlet in its original edition 
is excessively rare. 

In the Queries Williams again takes occasion to enforce 
his doctrine, already shown forth, that governments 
derive their just powers from the consent of the governed; 
and by the profuse use of references to the Scriptures 
he makes a strong argument showing forth the unreason 
and injustice of persecution in the cause of religon. 

The Queries were published in the year 1644 while 
Williams was yet in England. Not long after his return 
to New England there appeared still another pamphlet, 
which, although also published without name, was un- 
doubtedly the work of Roger Williams. That such a 
pamphlet was written by him, and published at about 
this time, has long been suspected, but it was not until 
the year 1881 that an uncatalogued copy was by accident 
discovered in the British Museum, by Dr. H. M. Dexter. 
The pamphlet is entitled. Christenings Make not Chris- 
tians; or a Briefe Discourse concerning that name Heathen 



A Political Pioneer 187 

commonly given to the Indians; as also concerning that 
great point of their Conversion. This treatise, as well as 
the Bloudy Tenent, the Queries, and the later of the Cotton 
letters, was undoubtedly written while Williams was in 
London, his literary activity being thus still further dis- 
played. In its subject matter it deprecates the prevalent 
custom of applying the term Heathen to the North 
American Indians, for the assumed reason that they were 
naked savages. Quoting learnedly from the Hebrew 
and from the Greek he shows that the word heathen, as 
used in the Scriptures, is applied to the Gentiles, or those 
nations who were not included among the people of God. 
Hence, he argues, those to-day who have accepted Jesus 
Christ are to be regarded as the people of God; while 
all others, whether civilized or barbarous, are properly 
heathen. The name of Christian, he concludes, is not 
then properly applied to those who have merely gained 
that designation by ecclesiastical form, but only to those 
to whom the name has "come by true regeneration with- 
in." 

It is probable that the Queries appeared while Williams 
was still in England, for they were published in February, 
1644, while, from the record of Governor Winthrop, we 
know that Williams did not reach Boston, upon his return 
journey, until September of that year. The last named 
of this series of writings, however, undoubtedly was de- 
layed in publication until after the author had left the 
country. This circumstance will undoubtedly explain 
the large number of uncorrected typographical errors 
which occur throughout the pamphlet. 

Roger Williams had visited England, as we already 
know, to obtain a charter, as the joint agent of the Colony 
of Providence Plantations and that at Aquidneck, or 
Rhode Island, the latter including the towns of Ports- 



188 Roger Williams 

mouth and Newport. In November, 1643, the Earl 
of Warwick was appointed Governor-in-chief and Lord 
High Admiral for the colonies, and was also made chair- 
man of the committee of the Long Parliament, to which 
was committed the charge of the affairs of the colonies. 
It was with Warwick, therefore, that Williams conducted 
his negotiations for the charter, which was granted to 
the Providence Plantations in the Narragansett Bay in 
New England. The charter, which bore date March 
14, 1643, was broad in its terms, and granted 
to the aforesaid Inhabitants of the Towns of Providence, Ports- 
mouth and Newport a free and absolute Charter of Incorpora- 
tion to be known by the name of the Incorporation of Providence 
Plantations in the Narraganset Bay in New England, together 
with full Power and Authority to rule themselves and such others 
as shall hereafter inhabit within any part of the said Tract of 
land, by such a form of civil government as by voluntary consent 
of all or the greater part of them they shall find most suitable to 
their estate and condition; and for that end to make and ordain 
such civil laws and constitution and to inflict such punishments 
upon transgressors and for execution thereof so to place and 
displace officers of justice as they or the greatest part of them 
shall be free consent agree to/ 

Having succeeded in the object of his visit Mr. Will- 
iams at once set out upon his return journey. Upon 
his voyage to England he had set sail from New Amster- 
dam, now New York, and not from the much nearer port 
of Boston, by reason, of course, of the act of exclusion 
from the Bay Colony, which had been passed against 
him. Upon the return voyage, however, he was desirous 
of taking passage for Boston; and that the authorities 
of the Bay might be induced to allow him to land, and 
to give him a safe conduct through their domain, he 



m. I. Col Rec, i, 13. 



A Political Pioneer 189 

solicited and obtained from certain influential Puritans 
a letter to the governor and magistrates, bespeaking their 
friendly conduct toward him. This letter, aside from its 
intrinsic interest, stirs a curious chord of memory when 
we read its signatures, and there find the names of Har- 
rington and Masham — names so closely connected with 
Mr. Williams's early love affair, and its disastrous con- 
clusion. 

To THE Right Worshipful the Governour and assis- 
tants AND THE REST OF OUR WORTHY FrIENDS IN THE PLAN- 
TATION OF Massachusetts Bay. 

Our Much Honour'd Friends: 

Taking notice, some of us, of long time, of Mr. Roger Williams, 
his good affections and conscience, and of his sufferings by our 
common enemy and oppressors of God's people, the prelates, as 
also of his great industry and travels in his printed Indian labours 
in your parts (the like whereof we have not seen extant from any 
part of America) and in which respect it hath pleased both Houses 
of Parliament to grant unto him and friends with him a free and 
absolute charter of civil government for those parts of his abode, 
and withal sorrowfully relenting, that amongst good men (our 
friends) driven to the ends of the world, exercised with the trials 
of a wilderness, and who mutually give good testimony each of 
the other (as we observe you do of him and he abundantly of you) 
there should be such a distance. We thought it fit, upon divers 
considerations, to profess our great desires of both your utmost 
endeavours of nearer closing and of ready expressing those good 
affections (which we perceive you bear to each other) in the 
actual performance of all friendly offices. The rather because 
of those bad neighbors you are likely to find too near you in 
Virginia, and the unfriendly visits from the West of England 
and from Ireland. That howsoever it may please the Most 



190 Roger Williams 

High to shake our foundations, yet the report of your peaceable 
and prosperous plantations may be some refreshings to 
Your true and faithful friends 
Cor. Holland Robert Harley 

John Blackistow John Gurdon 

Isaac Pennington Northumberland 

Miles Corbett P. Wharton 

Oliver St. John Tho. Barrington 

Gilbert Pickering William Masham* 

Governor Winthrop thus chronicled the arrival of Mr. 
Williams and his application for permission to pass: 

1644, 7, 17 [Sept. 17]— The Lady La Tour arrived here from 
London, in a ship commanded by Captain Bayley .... Here 
arrived also Mr. Roger Williams of Providence and with him 
two or three families. He brought with him a letter from divers 
lords and others of the parliament, the copy whereof ensueth.^ 

The application of Mr. Williams, reinforced, as it 
was, with the presentation of this letter, — ^for permission 
to pass through the territory of the Bay Colony, was grant- 
ed by the magistrates, after some demur and hesitation. 
He, in all probability, made the journey on foot, from 
Boston to some point on the Blackstone river, down which 
stream he passed in a canoe. The news of his arrival 
had, by some means, preceded him, and he was met, so 
says tradition, by a delegation of citizens of Providence, 
in a fleet of canoes, and escorted to the town. This his- 
toric episode has been made the subject of an admirable 
mural painting, upon the wall of the main stairway of 
the Providence County Court House, in Providence. 

In compensation for his services and expenses in pro- 
curing the charter, the colony voted to pay Mr. Williams 



'Hazard's Historical Collections, i, 160. 
^Winthrop, ii, 193. 



A Political Pioneer 191 

the sum of one hundred pounds, twenty pounds to be 
apportioned to Providence, thirty pounds to Portsmouth 
and fifty pounds to Newport. The amount was not, 
however, promptly paid, and it was not finally collected 
by Mr. Williams without some delay and trouble. 



CHAPTER XIV 

• 

For the two or three years next following Mr. WiSl- 
iams's return from England, he seems to have beeti well 
occupied in pacifying his Indian friends, who appeared 
to be of a warlike mind, and in keeping the other English 
colonies informed of contemplated movements. In the 
year immediately following his return the peace made 
the previous year seemed to be upon the point of rupture. 
A meeting of the commissioners — a confederacy having 
been formed in 1644, — was called at Boston, on the 
twenty-eighth day of July, 1645. The Narragansetts 
had attacked the Mohegans and having gained a victory 
over them, had succeeded in winning the Mohawks to an 
alliance. The Connecticut colonists sent aid to Uncas, 
sachem of the Mohegans, until such time as the com- 
missioners should be able to meet and confer upon the 
situation. 

The commissioners despatched three messengers to 
confer with the Narragansetts and the Mohegans, to 
request both tribes to send delegates to a peace confer- 
ence; failing in which, the messengers were instructed 
to intimate that the English were disposed to send aid 
to Uncas, and to inquire whether the Narragansetts 
were inclined to maintain the established peace, or to 
attack the English. 

The messengers returned bearing an evasive and some- 
what threatening reply from the Narragansetts. They 
likewise brought with them a letter from Mr. Williams, 
"wherin he assures them that ye warr would presenly 
breake forth & ye whole country would be all of a flame. 
And yt the sachems of yt Narigansets had concluded a 



A Political Pioneer 193 

newtrality with ye English of Providence and those of 
Aquidnett Iland."^ 

That the colonies at the Providence Plantations and 
on the Island of Rhode Island were at liberty to conclude 
a neutrality, while these warlike preparations were in 
progress and while the other colonies were threatened, 
is explained in the fact of Williams's remarkable friend- 
ship with the Indians; and in the further fact that the 
Narragansett Bay colonies, not having been admitted to 
the confederation of 1644, were at entire liberty to enter 
into an engagement of neutrality or, if they should choose, 
make an alliance with the Indian tribes. That war was 
averted at this time, and that the confederacy succeeded 
in making a treaty of peace with the Narragansetts and 
the Niantics is, perhaps, in a considerable measure due 
to the timely information sent by Mr. Williams and to 
his potent influence with his Indian friends. The treaty 
of peace thus concluded, called for the payment to the 
Bay Colony by the Narragansetts of an immense amount 
of wampum, which was not promptly paid. Three 
years later, it became known that the Narragansetts and 
the Niantics were not faithfully keeping their engagement 
not to make war upon the Mohegans. This coming to 
the knowledge of the Bay, and it further appearing that 
fully one thousand fathoms of the wampum had not been 
delivered, it was determined to send a deputation to the 
Narragansetts to remonstrate concerning these matters. 
Here again was an opportunity for the exercise of Will- 
iams's good oflices and he accompanied the deputation 
in the capacity of interpreter, and succeeded in bringing 
the matter to a successful and satisfactory termination.^ 



^Bradford, 515. 
^Winthrop, ii, 333. 



194 Roger Williams 

But, although Mr. Williams was invariably successful 
in his dealings with the Indians and was admirable as a 
pacificator with them, with his own people of the colony 
he was not equally successful. For years the settlements 
were torn with feuds, divisions, contentions and dissen- 
sions. There was a jealousy between the people of the 
Plantations and those of Aquidneck, a jealousy, the traces 
of which remain until the present day. 

These dissensions and feuds were not confined to this 
phase, but permeated each settlement and were often 
individual in their character. They began with the 
Verin episode already narrated, and continued through 
many years in a variety of forms. Mr. Williams himself 
was not exempt and, as we shall see, was, a few years 
later than the present point in our study, fiercely attacked 
by a member of the original party and forced to make a 
formal defence to his charges. It is, perhaps, by reason 
of these constant contentions that a delay of three years 
occurred between the reception of the charter and the 
organization of the colony under it. 

So earnest was Mr. Williams in his desire to quell these 
disturbances, and bring the various discordant elements 
in the colony into harmonious action, that he, in connec- 
tion with his brother Robert and other prominent men of 
the colony, framed and signed an agreement, engaging 
to "carry themselves [ourselves] in words and behaviour 
so moderately and orderly as the cause shall permit, and 
if in case any shall fly out in provoking, scurrilous, 
or exorbitant speeches or unsuitable behaviour, that he 
or they so doing shall be publicly declared, branded and 
noted upon record to be a common violator and disturber 
of the Union, peace and liberties of this plantation.'* 
This expedient does not appear to have produced the hoped 
for effect, for a few years later, as we shall find. Sir Henry 



A PoHtical Pioneer 195 

Vane, learning doubtless from Williams of the extent of 
these dissensions, wrote to the people of the colony a 
letter exhorting them to peacefulness and love toward 
one another. 

Roger Williams, however, appears to have commanded 
the respect of the people, although he was unable to quell 
their turbulence. He was elected to the office of presi- 
dent 's assistant for Providence, at the organization of the 
colony under the charter, and in 1649 he was made deputy 
president of the colony. In the summer of 1651 — for 
the relation of some features of Rhode Island history 
seems unavoidable — Mr. Coddington of Newport visited 
England and succeeded in obtaining for himself a com- 
mission as governor for life of the Aquidneck settlements. 
This virtually abrogated the charter of the Providence 
Plantations, and again Mr. Williams was deputized to 
proceed to England, in the interest of the colony. At 
the same time John Clarke of Newport was dispatched 
to England, in behalf of the Aquidneck colonists, to pro- 
cure the repeal of Coddington 's commission. Incident- 
ally, also, Williams was commissioned to come to such 
an understanding with Parliament as should settle a dis- 
pute which had for some time existed between Providence 
Plantations and the Bay, concerning the true owership 
of the town of Warwick. 

Desirous of embarking, on this journey, at the port of 
Boston, and of landing there upon his return, Mr. Williams 
addressed a petition to the General Court of the Bay, 
begging their permission to pass through their territory 
for that purpose. The petition modestly recounts his 
services in the pacification of the Indians, and urges 
these as arguments for the granting of the petition. 



196 Roger Williams 

Roger Williams to the General Court. 

To the honored General Court of the Massachusetts Colony, 
now assembled at Boston, 

October, 1651. 

The Humble Petition of Roger Williajms. 

Although it be true yet it pleased this honored Government 
now many years since to pass a sentence of banishment upon me, 
which sentence and the consequences (bitter afflictions and 
miseries, losses, sorrows and hardships) I have humbly desired 
(through the help of the most High) to endure with a quiet and 
patient mind. 

Yet, may it please you favorably to remember, that at my 
last arrival from my native country, I presented this honored 
government with letters from many of your noble and honorable 
friends, then of the Parliament of England, lamenting of differ- 
ences and persuading moderation, if not reconcilement and paci- 
fication. 

Please you to remember that ever since the time of my exile 
I have been (through God's help) a professed and known servant 
to this colony and all the colonies of the English in peace and 
war, so that scarce a week hath passed but some way or other 
I have been used as instrumental to the peace and spreading of 
the English plantings in this country. 

In the Pequod troubles, receiving letters from this Govern- 
ment, I hazarded my life into extreme dangers, by laboring to 
prevent the league between the Pequods and the Narragansetts, 
and to work a league between the English and the Narragansetts, 
which work as an agent from this colony and all the English in 
the land, I (through help from God) effected. The fruit thereof 
(as our much honored Mr. Winthrop, deceased, wrote to me) 
hath been peace to the English ever since. 

At present let me not offend you in saying that I pass not only 
as a private passenger, but as a messenger and agent to the High 
Court of the Parliament of England, in the name of my neigh- 



A Political Pioneer 197 

bors, the English, occasioned by the late grant obtained by Mr. 
Coddington for Rhode Island. 

In all which respects I humbly pray, yet (notwithstanding the 
former sentence) I may find yet civility and courtesy from the 
English of the Massachusetts Colony, yet I (inoffensively be- 
having myself) may inoffensively and without molestation, pass 
through your jurisdiction as a stranger for a night, to the ship 
and so (if God so please) may land again, from the land of our 
nativity. 

But some may say, you are an opposite to the way in worship, 
and besides you can go as an adversary, with complaints against 
us for the town of Warwick. 

To the first, I humbly pray it may be remembered, that not 
only I, but the many millions of millions of our Father Adam's 
children, (which are as the sand upon the seashore) are not of 
your persuasion, yea and many thousands of the poor remnant 
of God's children abroad, are at lamentable difference with 
you and themselves as to the worship of God in Christ Jesus. 
I add, who knows but upon humble and Christian debatements 
and agitations, not only I, but your honored selves, may yet see 
cause to put our mouths in the dust together, as touching the 
present controversies about the Christian worship. 

To the second I humbly and truly answer, yet if it please 
this honored Court to depute two or three of yourselves to receive 
and debate mine answer to this objection, I hope (through 
God's assistance) to make it apparent, yet I go not as an enemy 
to the Massachussetts, but as a professed instrument of a peace- 
able and honorable end of the sad controversy, and as a humble 
servant, rather than an enemy, to this honored Government of 
the Massachusetts. 

I am unworthy, yet desire to be 

Your humble servant, 

Roger Williams.* 

The records of the General Court of the Bay, curiously 



^Mass. HisL Soc. Coll., iv, 471 ; et vide, Pubs. Nar. Club, vi, 231 



198 Roger Williams 

enough contain no mention of this petition of Williams 
for safe conduct, but that it was granted is made certain 
from this appended note: 

The Deputies think meet to grant this petition, viz: liberty 
to Mr. Williams to pass through our jurisdiction to England, 
provided he carry himself inoffensively according to his pro- 
mise with reference to the consent of our honored magistrates. 

William Torrey, Clerk. 

Williams and Clarke sailed together from Boston in 
November, 1651, and arrived in London early in 1652. 
Here Williams remained two years, and they seem to 
have been with him as busy years as those which he 
formerly passed in England. In 1647 Mr. Cotton had 
published his reply to The Bloudy Tenent of Persecu- 
tion^ under the title, as already noted, The Bloudy Ten- 
ent Washed and made White in the Blood of the Lamb. 
Five years had passed since this treatise appeared from 
the press of a London publishing house, but as yet no 
rejoinder from Mr. Williams had appeared. Whether 
he had little by little, during these years, been prepar- 
ing his reply, or whether the leisure of the voyage offered 
the long desired opportunity, cannot be determined, al- 
though there is some evidence that the first was the case. 
At all events, during the first year of his visit in England, 
his rejoinder appeared. It was entitled. The Bloudy 
Tenent made yet more Bloudy through Mr. Cotton's attempt 
to Wash it White. Mr. Cotton's reply to The Bloudy 
Tenent which had been published, as stated, in 1647, 
was a careful criticism of that treatise, each chapter 
being considered in proper consecutive order. He made 
no reply to Mr. Williams's criticism of The Model of 
Church and Civil Power, disclaiming the authorship of, 
or any responsibility for, that pamphlet. In April, 1652, 



A Political Pioneer 199 

not long after Williams's second arrival in England, two 
treatises from his pen were published. These were 
entitled : Experiments of Spiritual Life and Health, and 
The Hireling Ministry None of Christ's. The Bloudy 
Tenent yet more Bloudy had probably been written before 
these pamphlets, but they preceded it in time of publica- 
tion. 

In this last named work the author opens with three 
distinct introductions, or prefaces. The first of these is 
addressed, "To the High Court of Parliament"; the 
second, "To the Several Respective Generall Courts, 
especially that of the Massachusetts in New England"; 
the third, "To the Merciful and Compassionate Reader." 
In the second of these introductions, in his somewhat 
diffuse manner, he summarizes thus the contents of his 
work: 

It is a second Conference of Peace and Truth, an examination 
of the worthily honoured and beloved Mr. Cotton's Reply to a 
former Conference and Treatise of this Subject: And although 
it concern all Nations, which have persecuted and shed the 
Blood of Jesus, the Bloudie Roman Empire, with all the savage 
Lyons thereof, Emperours and Popes, the bloudie monarchies 
of Spain and France and the rest of Europe's Kingdoms and 
States, (which imder their several Vizards and Pretences of 
Service to God, have in so many thousands of his Servants 
Murthered so many thousand times over, his dear Son) yea 
although it concern that Bloudy Turkish monarchy, and all 
the Nations of the World who practice violence to the Conscience 
of any Christian, or Anti-Christian, Jews or Pagans; yet it con- 
cerns your selves (which all due respect otherwise be it spoken) 
(in some more eminent degrees; Partly as so many of 
yours of chief note (beside Mr. Cotton) are engaged in it; partly 
as N. England (in respect of Spiritual and Civil State) 
professeth to draw nearer to Christ Jesus then other States and 
Churches, and partly in N. England is believed to hold and 



^00 Roger Williams 

practice such a Bloudy Doctrine, notwithstanding Mr. Cotton's 
Vails and Pretences of not persecuting men for conscience, but 
punishing them only for sinning against conscience; and of but 
so and so, not persecuting but punishing Hereticks, Blasphe- 
mers, Idolators, Seducers, &c. 

This explanation, though not a little obscure in phrase- 
ology, perhaps sufficiently describes the subject matter 
of this final treatise of this controversial series. The 
discussion, which ceased at this point, had been con- 
ducted with courtesy and with an absence of bitter person- 
alities. The final treatise closes with an Appendix, 
which the author addresses "To the Cleargie of the foure 
great Parties (professing the name of Christ Jesus) in 
England, Scotland and Ireland, viz. The Popish, Pre- 
laticall, Presbyterian and Independent." In this he 
severely scores the churches and clergy who were parties 
to the quadrangular religious struggle of the century. 
He says, 

You foure have torn the seamless coate of the Son of 
God into foure pieces, and (to say nothing of former 
Times and Tearings) you foure have tome the three 
Nations into thousands of pieces and Distractions. The 
two former of you, the Popish and (Protestant) Prelaticall 
are Brethren; so are the latter, the Presbyterian and 
Independent. But, oh, how Rara est, &c! What Concord, 
what Love, what pitie hath ever yet appeared amongst you, when 
the providence of the Most High and onely Wise hath granted 
you your Pattents of mutual and successive Dominion and pre- 
cedence. Just like two men, whom I have knowne breake out 
to Blowes and Wrastling, so have the Protestant Bishops fought 
and wrastled with the Popish, and the Popish with the Pro- 
testant! The Presbyterian with the Independent and the Inde- 
pendent with the Presbyterian! And our Chronicles and Ex- 
periences have told this Nation and the World, how he whose 



A Political Pioneer 201 

Turne it is to be brought under, hath ever felt an heavie wrath- 
full hand of an unbrotherly and unchristian persecutor. 

What more keen and scathing denunciation can be 
found, than this, which accuses the churches of conduct, 
the equivalent of an act, from which the very executioners 
of The Christ themselves shrank! 

Williams reached London at the time when the future 
author of Paradise Lost was at the height of his political 
fame. Charles I had been beheaded two years before, 
and Milton, as a reward for a pamphlet written in defence 
of the Commonwealth had been appointed Secretary 
for Foreign Tongues to the Council. He had written 
his Eikonoklastes, or Image Breaker, in reply to the famous 
Eikon Basilike. Before his appointment he had written 
and published a half dozen of pamphlets, directed against 
the prelacy, the last of which was his still remembered 
Areopagetica. At this time Salmasius, a Dutch professor, 
published a defence of Charles I, and the Council of 
State applied to Milton to write a reply. It was at this 
point of time, as seems probable, that Williams formed 
his intimacy with Milton. In a letter to John Winthrop, 
written after Williams's return to New England, in the 
summer of 1654, the latter wrote: 

The Secretary of the Council (Mr. Milton) for my Dutch I 
read him, read me many more languages.* 

From this passage it may be inferred that Williams, 
having naturally formed the acquaintance of the Council's 
secretary, and being familiar with the Dutch language, 
translated for Milton the treatise of Salmasius. By what 
manner Williams himself learned Dutch it is impossible 
to determine with certainty; but yet we know that, before 
his emigration to New England, he lived in Essex, which 
shire borders upon the North Sea, over against Holland; 

Tubs. Nar. Club, vi, 262. 



202 Roger Williams 

and in Essex very many of the returned Anabaptists and 
other non-conformists, who had before time fled to Holland 
made their homes. It is not unlikely that from these re- 
turned fugitives, Williams acquired the tongue which 
they themselves had learned, during their residence 
among the Dutch. Williams had readj thoroughly the 
writings of Milton, and had greatly admired them, except 
possibly his Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce. This 
last named pamphlet, written when Milton was vexed at 
his wife's desertion, was received with horror by the 
Episcopal party in England and was deprecated by many 
of his friends. 

It was about this time that Williams bethought him of 
his early days in England and especially of his benefactor. 
Sir Edward Coke. The great lawyer had died two years 
after Williams's emigration to New England, now twenty 
years past. He remembered, however. Coke's daughter 
Anne, who was now Mrs. Sadlier, residing at Stondon, 
Puckridge. To her he addressed a letter, dated, **At 
my lodgings near St. Martin's, at Mr. Davis his house, 
at the sign of the Swan." This letter was probably 
written in the spring or summer of 1652, for in it he in- 
forms Mrs. Sadlier of his arrival in England during "this 
last winter," "being sent over from some parts of New 
England with some addresses to the Parliament." He 
alludes in a loving and grateful manner to her late father; 
and offers his apologies for not paying his respects in 
person, urging as his excuse his "very great business," 
and his "very great straits of time." He then proceeds 
to relate something of his life's experiences in the score 
of years that have passed. "It hath pleased the Most 
High," he writes, "to carry me on eagles' wings, through 
mighty labors, mighty hazards, mighty sufferings, and to 
vouchsafe to use so base an instrument — as I humbly 



'A. Political Pioneer 203 

hope — to glorify himself, in many of my trials and suffer- 
ings, both among the English and barbarians." Con- 
tinuing, he speaks of his written works — which he designates 
as "the two-egded sword of God's spirit" — and of his 
public appearances " in some contests against the ministers 
of Old and New England, as touching the true ministry 
of Christ and the soul freedoms of the people." His 
writings, he informs her, are chiefly controversial, and 
hence he refrains from sending her copies of any of them, 
lest they might fail to interest her. He, however, begs 
her acceptance of a publication which he calls "a plain 
and peaceable discourse" of his own personal experi- 
ments, written to his wife, during her severe illness, while 
he was absent from home among the Indians. 

Mrs. Sadlier, in a rather curt note of reply declines his 
gift and returns it unread, explaining that she had "given 
over reading many books," and was devoting herself 
exclusively to the perusal of "the bible, the late King's 
book, [Eikon Basilike] Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity, 
Reverend Bishop Andrew's Sermons, with his other di- 
vine meditations, Dr. Jer. Taylor's works and Dr. Tho. 
Jackson upon the Creed." These she commended to 
his reading, saying that she feared that his "new lights, 
that are so much cried up will prove but dark lanterns." 

Williams was evidently a little piqued at the defiant 
attitude, or perhaps regarded her moods in the light of 
a challenge to a controversy, the delight of his very soul. 
He instantly despatched a copy of The Bloudy Tenent 
yet more Bloudy, which she as promptly returned un- 
read, together with a request that he trouble her no more 
in this kind. But he was not to be rebuffed in this manner. 
He sends her a lengthy reply accepting her quasi challenge, 
as expressed in her belief that his new lights would prove 



204 Roger Williams 

but dark lanterns. His argument is couched in terms 
in the highest degree courteous, in this respect differing 
widely from his letters addressed some years before, to 
Lady Barrington. He makes a strong plea for the doc- 
trine of a new birth, and exhibits his strong disapproval 
of ecclesiastical ordinances — especially that of baptism, 
and of orders in the ministry. In conclusion, since she 
has referred him to certain books for his reading, he in 
turn recommends her to peruse Jeremy Taylor's Liberty 
of Prophesying and Milton's Eikonoklastes. 

Mrs. Sadlier was now thoroughly angry and closed 
the correspondence with an exceedingly sharp reply, and 
one which cannot be commended for courtesy of expression 
and moderation of tone. Mrs. Sadlier was evidently 
possessed of a temper, and of a tongue which she well 
knew how to wield. She says that she thought her first 
letter would have silenced him, *'but," she says, "it seems 
you have a face of brass so that you cannot blush. " She 
rebukes him savagely for certain aspersions which he has 
cast upon the character of the late king, saying: "None 
but such a villain as yourself would have wrote them." 
This position she enforces vigorously with scriptural 
quotations. Next she pays her respects to John Milton, — 
whose writings have been commended to her perusal, — 
and attacks him with energy, for his Doctrine and Dis- 
cipline of Divorce, and ends by accusing him of bigamy 
and asserts his blindness to be a judgment of God upon 
him. She concludes by saying: 

By what I have now writ you know how I stand affected, I 
will walk as directly to heaven as I can, in which place, if you 
will turn from being a rebel, and fear God and obey the King, 
there is hope I may meet you there: howsoever, trouble me no 
more with your letters for they are very troublesome to her that 
wishes you in the place from whence you came. 



A Political Pioneer 205 

These letters, the originals of which are in the library 
of Trinity College, Cambridge, serve to show forth that 
the peculiar characteristic of Williams, a love of contro- 
versy, still clung to him, and that the merest semblance of 
a challenge was enough to bring his mental combativeness 
into full play. 

During his stay in England it is certain that he was 
shown social courtesies by Sir Henry Vane and his wife. 
His discourse, a copy of which he sent to Mrs. Sadlier 
with his first letter to that lady, was dedicated to Lady 
Vane. He also held frequent intimate conversations 
with Cromwell, who enquired with much interest con- 
cerning the Indians of New England and the religious 
work which was in progress among them. This is set 
forth fully in a letter written by Williams after his return. 
Roger Williams to John Winthrop. 

At my last departure for England I was importuned by the 
Narragansett sachems and especially by Ninigret to present 
the petition to the high sachems of England that they might not 
be forced from their religion and for not changing their religion 
be invaded by war; for they said they were daily visited with 
threatenings by Indians that came from about the Massachusetts, 
that if they would not pray they should be destroyed by war. 
With this their petitions I acquainted in private discourses divers 
of the chiefs of our nation; and especially his Highness who in 
many discourses I had with him never expressed the least tittle 
of displeasure, as hath been here reported, but in the midst of 
disputes ever expressed a high spirit of love and gentleness and 
was often pleased to please himself with very many questions, 
and my answers, about the Indian aifairs of this country; and 
after all hearing of yourself and us it hath pleased his Highness 
and his council to grant amongst other favors to the Colony, 
some expressly concerning the very Indians, the native inhabi- 
tants of this jurisdiction.* 

*R. I. Col. Rec, i, 291; Pubs. Nar. Club, vi, 269. 



206 Roger Williams 

Mr. Williams was successful in his mission in that, in 
connection with Mr. Clarke, he succeeded in procuring 
an order for the vacating of the Coddington commission 
and for the continuance of the colony under the charter. 
This order was sent to New England by hand of one 
William Dyre, Williams remaining for a time in England. 
The colony wrote to him a letter of thanks for his services 
and proposed that he should procure his own appoint- 
ment as governor of the colony for one year. But this 
step he does not appear even to have attempted to take, 
deeming it, no doubt, to be a movement savoring too 
much of the coup of Coddington. He remained in Eng- 
land until the summer of 1654, supporting himself, in 
great part, during his stay by teaching English and the 
languages. In July of that year he returned, bringing 
with him a letter from Sir Henry Vane addressed to the 
colonists at Providence Plantations, expressing his re- 
gret at learning of their long continued dissensions and 
pleading with them for greater harmony and unity of 
purpose. Williams brought with him also an order from 
Cromwell to the authorities of the Bay, directing them to 
give their bearer safe conduct through their territory. 



CHAPTER XV 

A most interesting circumstance connected with the life 
of Roger Williams is his lifelong friendship with John 
Winthrop. We have read his letter to the governor 
written at Plymouth within a year after his withdrawal 
from the Bay Colony, because he "durst not officiate to 
an unseparated people." We know that Winthrop — 
Haynes being at that time governor and Bellingham deputy 
governor — deeply regretted the banishment of Williams, 
although he had long felt that it was inevitable. We have 
seen that, Williams having definitely withdrawn from the 
colony, at the mandate of the General Court, Winthrop 
sent him a letter of advice as to his future settlement. 
That he did so without the knowledge of the magistracy 
is probable, for Winthrop 's own record is to the effect 
that it was determined to arrest Williams and ship him 
to England, because the report was current, that he was 
about to start a plantation in the Narragansett Country. 
In 16S7 something more than a year after the settlement 
had been made upon the Moshaussic, Winthrop, desirous 
of learning how the experiment of a separation of the 
civil from the ecclesiastical was succeeding, addressed to 
Williams a letter of inquiry. It is quite probable that 
this was intended to be regarded as in the nature of a reply 
to the letter of Williams to Winthrop, in which the former 
outlined his plan of government for his newly established 
plantation. Williams made reply in a lengthy epistle, 
in which he responds to the queries of his correspondent 
in detail. The substance of these queries thus propounded 
is readily gathered from the reply. 



208 Roger Williams 

Roger Williams to John Winthrop. 

Providence the 24th of the 8th. [1637] 

Sir, worthy and well beloved, — I was abroad about the 
Pequod bufinefs when your letter arrived, and fince meffengers 
have not fitted, &c. 

I therefore now thankfully acknowledge your wifdom and 
gentlenefs in receiving fo lovingly my late rude and foolifh lines : 
you bear with fools gladly becaufe you are wife. 

I ftill wait upon your love and faithfulnefs for thofe poor 
papers, and cannot but believe that your heart, tongue, and pen 
fhould be one, if I were Turk or Jew, &c. 

Your fix queries I welcome, my love forbidding me to fur- 
mife that a Pharifee, a Sadducee, an Herodian, &c., wrote them; 
but rather that your love and pity framed them as a phyfician 
to the fick, &c. 

He that made us thefe fouls and fearcheth them, that made 
the ear and eye, and therefore fees and hears I lie not, but in 
his prefence have fadly fequeftered myfelf to his holy tribunal, 
and your interrogatories, begging from his throne thofe feven 
fiery lamps and eyes, his holy Spirit, to help the fcrutiny, de- 
firous to fufpect myfelf above the old ferpent himfelf, and re- 
membering that he that trufteth in his own heart is a fool. 
Prov. 28. 

While I anfwer let me importune from your loving breaft 
that good opinion that you deal with one (however fo and fo, 
in your judgment yet) ferious, and def irons in the matters of 
God's Sanctuary to ufe (as the double weights of the Sanctuary 
teach us) double diligence. 

Your firft Querie then is this. 

What have you gained by your new-found practices ? &c. 

I confefs my gains caft up in man's exchange are loss of 
friends, efteem, maintenance, &c., but what was gain in that 
refpect I defire to count loft for the excellency of the knowl- 
edge of Chrift Jesus my Lord: &c. To His all glorious Name 
I know I have gained the honor of one of his poor witneffes, 
though in fackcloth. 



A Political Pioneer 209 

To your beloved felves and others of God's people yet afleep, 
this witnefs in the Lord's feafon at your waking fhall be prof- 
perous, and the feed fown fhall arife to the greater purity of 
the kingdom and ordinances of the Prince of the kings of the 
earth. 

To myfelf (through his rich grace) my tribulation hath brought 
fome confolation and more evidence of his love, finging Mofes 
his fong and the Lambs, in that weak victory which (through 
His help) I have gotten over the beaft, his picture, his mark, 
and number of his name, Revel. 15. 2. 3. 

If you afk for numbers, the witneffes are but two: Revel. 11., 
and how many milHons of Chriftians in name, and thoufands 
of Chriftians in heart, do call the truths (wherein yourfelf and 
I agree in witneflSng) new found practices ? 

Gideon's army was thirty- two thoufand; but cowardice re- 
turned twenty-two thoufand back, and nine thoufand feven hun- 
dred worldlings fent but three hundred to the battle. 

I will not by prophecy exafperate, but wifh (in the black and 
ftormy day) your company be not lefs than Gideon's to fight (I 
mean with the Blood of the Lamb and Word of Witnefs) for 
what you profefs to fee. 

To your fecond, viz.: Is your fpirit as even as it was feven 
years fince.? 

I will not follow the fafhion either in commending or com- 
demning of myfelf. You and I stand at one dreadful, dreadful 
tribunal: yet what is paft I defire to forget, and to prefs for- 
ward towards the mark for the price of the high calling of God 
in Chrift. 

And for the evennefs of my fpirit. 

Toward the Lord, I hope I more long to know and do His 
holy pleafure only, and to be ready not only to be banifhed, but 
to die in New England for the name of the Lord Jefus. 

Towards yourfelves, I have hitherto begged of the Lord an 
even fpirit, and I hope ever fhall, as 

Firft, reverently to efteem of, and tenderly to refpect the per- 
fons of many hundreds of you, &c. 



210 Roger Williams 

Secondly, To rejoice to fpend and be fpent in any fervice, 
(according to my confcience) for your welfares. 

Thirdly, To rejoice to find out the leaft fwerving in judgment 
or practice from the help of any, even the leaft of you. 

Laftly, to mourn daily, heavily, unceffantly, till the Lord look 
down from Heaven, and bring all his precious living ftones 
into one New Jerufalem. 

To your third, viz. : Are you not grieved that you have grieved 
fo many ? 

I fay with Paul, I vehemently forrow for the forrow of any 
of Zion's daughters, who fhould ever rejoice in her King, &c., 
yet I muft (and O that I had not caufe) grieve becaufe fo many 
of Zion's daughters fee not and grieve not for their fouls defile- 
ments, and that fo few bear John company in weeping after the 
unfolding of the feals, which only weepers are acquainted with. 

You thereupon propound a fourth. Do you think the Lord 
hath utterly forfaken us.? 

I anfwer Jehovah will not forfake His people for His great 
name's fake 1. Sam. 12. That is, the fire of His love towards 
thofe whom once He loves is eternal, like Himself: and thus 
far be it from me to queftion His eternal love towards you, &c. 
Yet if you grant that ever you were as Abraham among the 
Chaldees, Lot among the Sodomites, the Kenites among the 
Amalekites, as Ifrael in Egypt or Babel, and that under pain of 
their plagues and judgments you were bound to leave them, 
depart, fly out, (not from the places as in the type,) but from 
the filthinefs, of their fins, &c., and if it prove, as I know af- 
furedly it fhall, that though you have come far, yet you never 
came out of the wildernefs to this day: then, I befeech you, 
remember that yourselves, and fo alfo many thoufands of God's 
people muft yet mournfully read the 74, 79, 80, and 89 Pfalms, 
the Lamentations, Daniel 11th, and Revel. 11th, 12th, 13th, and 
this. Sir, I befeech you do more ferioufly then ever, and abftract 
yourfelf with a holy violence from the dung heap of this earth, 
the credit and comfort of it, and cry to Heaven to remove the 
ftumbling blocks, fuch idols, after which fometimes the Lord 
will give His own Ifrael an anfwer. 



A Political Pioneer ^11 

Sir, You requeft me to be free with you, and therefore blame 
me not if I anfwer your requeft, defiring the like payment from 
your own dear hand, at any time, in any thing. 

And let me add, that amongft all the people of God, wherefo- 
ever fcattered about Babel's banks, either in Rome or England, 
&c., your cafe is the worft by far, becaufe while others of God's 
Ifrael tenderly refpect fuch as defire to fear the Lord, your very 
judgment and confcience leads you to fmite and beat your fel- 
low fervants, expel them your coafts, &c., and therefore, though 
I know the elect fhall never finally be forfaken, yet Sodom's, 
Egypt's, Amalek's, Babel's judgments ought to drive us out, to 
make our calling out of this world to Chrift, and our election 
fiu-e in him. 

Sir, Your fifth is. From what fpirit, and to what end do you 
drive ? 

Concerning my fpirit, as I faid before, I could declaim againft 
it, but whether the fpirit of Chrift Jefus, for whofe vifible kingdom 
and ordinances I witnefs, &c, or the fpirit of Antichrift (1 John 
4) againft whom only I conteft, do drive me, let the Father of 
Spirits be pleafed to fearch, and (worthy Sir) be you alfo pleafed 
by the word to fearch: and I hope you will find that as you fay 
you do, I alfo feek Jefus \^ho was nailed to the gallows, I afk 
the way to loft Zion, I witnefs what I believe I fee patiently 
(the Lord affifting) in fackcloth, I long for the bright appear- 
ance of the Lord Jefus to confume the man of fin: I long for the 
appearance of the Lamb's wife alfo. New Jerufalem: I wifh 
heartily profperity to you all. Governor and people, in your 
civil way, and mourn that you see not your poverty, nakednefs, 
&c., in fpirituals, and yet I rejoice in the hopes that as the way 
of the Lord to Apollo, fo within a few years (through, I fear 
though, many tribulations) the way of the Lord Jefus, the firft 
and moft ancient path, fhall be more plainly difcovered to you 
and me. 

Laftly, You afk whether my former condition would not have 
ftood with a gracious heart, &c. ? 



212 Roger Williams 

At this Query, Sir, I wonder much, becaufe you know what 
fins, yea all manner of fins, (the fin unto death excepted,) a 
child of God may lie in, inftance I need not. 

Secondly, When it comes to matter of confcience that the 
ftroke lies upon the very judgment, that the thing practiced is 
lawful, &c., as the polygamy of the Saints, the building of the 
Temple, (if David had gone on,) the many falfe miniftries and 
miniftrations (like the ark upon the new cart) which from 
Luther's times to this day God's children have confcientioufly 
practiced. Who then can wonder (and yet indeed who can not 
but wonder) how a gracious heart, before the Lord's awakening, 
and calling, and drawing out, may lie in many abominations ? 

Two inftances I fhall be bold to prefent you with. Firft, do 
you not hope B if hop Ufher hath a gracious heart ? and fecondly. 
Do you not judge that your own heart was gracious even when 
(with the poifoned fhirt on your back) you, &c. ? 

But while another judgeth the condition fair, the foul that 
fears, doubts, and feels a guilt hath broken bones, &c. Now, 
worthy Sir, I muft call up your wifdom, your love, your patience, 
your promife and faithfulnefs, candid ingenuity, &c. My 
heart's defire is abundant, and exceeds my pen. My head and 
actions willing to live (as the Apoftle Paul) 7a^5)5 '^i^ Tiaxru 
Where I err, Chrift be pleafed to reftore me, where I ftand, to 
eftablifh. If you pleafe I have also a few Queries to yourfelf, 
without your leave I will not: but will ever mourn, (the Lord 
affifting,) that I am no more (though I hope ever) yours, 

R: Will: 

Sir, Concerning natives: the Pequods and Nayantaquits re- 
folve to live and die together, and not to yield up one. Laft 
night tidings came that the Mohawks, (the cannibals,) have 
flain fome of our countrymen at Connecticut. I hope it is not 
true. 

To John Winihrop, Governor^ &c. 

The correspondence with Winthrop in the matter of 
the Pequod uprising, important as it was, comprised by 
no means the most interesting of the missives which passed 



A Political Pioneer gl3 

between the two friends. Of the one hundred and fifty 
or more letters of Roger Williams which are extant', by 
far the greater number are addressed to John Winthrop. 
Many, like those quoted, are upon matters of weighty 
moment, in the affairs of the government, and many are 
personal and social in their nature. One of the most 
pleasing was written but a few days later than the one 
just quoted, and it is not improbable that the two epistles 
may have been forwarded by the same messenger, the 
sachem Miantonomoh. The contents of the letter suf- 
ficiently explain its purpose. 

Roger Williams to John Winthrop. 
To his much honored Governor, John Winthrop. 

The last of the week, I think the 28th of the 8th [Oct. 28, 1637] 
Sir: This bearer, Miantunnomu, resolving to go on his visit, 
I am bold to request a word of advice from you concerning a 
proposition made by Canonicus and himself to me. Some half 
year since Canonicus gave an island in this bay to Mr. Oldham, 
by name Chibachuwese [now Prudence] upon condition, as it 
should seem, that he would dwell there near unto them. The 
Lord (in whose hands all hearts are) turning their affections 
toward myself, they desired me to remove thither and dwell 
nearer to them. I have answered once and again that for pre- 
sent I mind not to remove; but if I have it from them, I would 
give them satisfaction for it, and build a. little house and put in 
some swine, as understanding the place to have store of fish 
and good feeding for swine. Of late I have heard that Mr. 
Gibbons, upon occasion, motioned your desire and his own of 
putting some swine on some of these islands, which hath made 
me since more desire to obtain it, because I might thereby not 
only benefit myself, but also pleasure yourself, whom I more 
desire to pleasure and honor. I spoke of it now to this Sachem 
and he tells me that because of the store of fish Canonicus desires 



Tub. Nar. Club. vi. 



£14 Roger Williams 

that I would accept half, (it being spectacle- wise and between 
a mile or two in circuit, as I guess) and he would reserve the other; 
but I think, if I go over I shall obtain the whole, your loving 
counsel, how far it may be inoffensive, because it was once (upon 
a condition not kept) Mr. Oldham's. So, with respective salutes 
to your kind self and Mrs. Winthrop, I res^, 

Your worship's unfeigned in all I may, 

Roger Williams. 

That Winthrop replied to this letter at once, and ac- 
cepted the offer thus made of a partnership in the island 
is certain. Williams closed a bargain with the sachem 
for the island, the consideration being twenty fathoms 
of wampum and two coats, one-half of which price was to 
be paid by Winthrop. A deed was executed in which the 
names of Williams atnd Winthrop were inserted as grantees. 
His partner was at once notified of the transaction by 
Williams. 

Roger Willla.ms to John Winthrop. 

10th of 9th [Nov. 10, 1637] 

^ •1^ *«• T* *l* 

I have bought and paid for the Island and because I desired 
the best confirmation of the pm-chase to yourself that I could, 
I was bold to insert your name in the original here inclosed. The 
ten fathoms of beads and one coat you may please at leisure to 
deliver to Mr. Throckmorton, who will also be serviceable in 
the conveyance of swine this way. 

***** 

Not only did Williams admit Winthrop to a partner- 
ship with himself in the purchase of this valuable tract 
of land, and thus show his friendliness toward him, but 
by the commitment to his oversight of a matter of personal 
business did Williams show to us his still closer intimacy 
with the chief spirit of the Bay. It would appear, from 
this and other letters and entries that Williams upon his 



A Political Pioneer 215 

withdrawal from the Bay, left behind him some business 
affairs unsettled, both in the collectron and in the payment 
of debts outstanding. An old debt, contracted with him 
while at Plymouth, by one George Ludlow, he found ex- 
ceedingly difficult of collection. He requested one Richard 
Collicut to act for him in its collection and sent him a 
power of attorney, but with no good success. He then 
turned to Winthrop and begged for his assistance: 

Roger Williams to John Winthrop. 
To his most honored Governor John Winthrop. 

Sir, — Having used many means and many Attornies (in my 
absence) to recover a debt of Mr. George Ludlow and failed by 
all, and now last of all by Richard Collicut who undertook 
seriously, but comes off weakly in it: let me humbly beg what 
help in a righteous way may be afforded (now in his departure) 
to cause him to deal honestly with me who have many years and 
in many wants been patient toward him. The debt was for 
mine own and wife's better apparel, put off to him at Plymouth. 
My bills are lost but his own hand which the bearer will deliver 
is testimony sufficient. He hath used so many flights and told 
so many falsehoods, that Sir, if you believe more than you see, 
I must 'patiently give my debt for desperate; however with my 
best respects to your kind self and Mrs. Winthrop, and sighs 
to heaven for you, I rest. 

Your worship's unfeignedly faithful till death, 

Roger Williams. 
A little later, finding himself beset with troubles caused 
by the the importunity of a creditor, whom he left behind, 
unsatisfied, in Salem, and who placed an attachment upon 
his homestead, in that town, he again appeals to Winthrop 
for counsel and assistance. He prefaces his letter with 
a reference to a recent earthquake, in which he hears and 
sees the voice and hand of God: 



216 Roger Williams 

Roger Williams to John Winthrop. 

For his much honored Mr. Governor, John Winthrop. 

Providence, [June, 1638.] 

Sir, — I fometimes fear that my lines are as thick and over 
bufy as the mufketoes, &c., but your wifdom will connive, and 
your love will cover, &c. 

Two things at prefent for information. 

Firft in the affairs of the Moft High; his late dreadful voice 
and hand: that audible and fenfible voice, the Earthquake. 

All thefe parts felt it, (whether beyond the Narraganfett I 
yet learn not), for myself I fcarce perceived ought but a kind 
of thunder and a gentle moving, &c., and yet it was no more 
this way to many of our own and the natives apprehenfions, 
and but one fudden fhort motion. 

The younger natives are ignorant of the like: but the elder 
inform me that this is the fifth within thefe four fcore years in 
the land: the firft about three fcore and ten years fince: the 
fecond fome three fcore and four years fince, the third fome 
fifty-four years fince, the fourth fome forty-fiix fince: and they 
always obferved either plague or pox or fome other epidemical 
difeafe followed; three, four or five years after the Earthquake, 
(or Naunaumemoauke, as they speak). 

He be mercifully pleafed himfelf to interpret and open his 
own riddles, and grant (it be pleasing in his eyes) it may not be 
for deftruction, and but (as the Earthquake Taefore the Jailor's 
converfion) a means of shaking and turning of all hearts, (which 
are his,) Englifh or Indian, to him. To further this (if the Lord 
pleafe) the Earthquake fenfibly took about a thoufand of the 
natives in a moft folemn meeting for play, &c. 

Secondly, a word in mine own particular, only for informa- 
tion. I owe between 50 and 60li to Mr. Cradock for com- 
modities received from Mr. Mayhew. Mr. Mayhew will teftify 
that (being Mr. Cradock's agent) he was content to take pay- 
ment, what (and when) my houfe at Salem yielded: accordingly 
I long fince put it into his hand, and he into Mr. Jollies*, who 
befide my voluntary act and his attachment fince, fues as I 



A Political Pioneer 217 

hear for damages, which I question: fince I have not failed againft 
contract and content of the firft agent, but the holy pleafure 
of the Lord be done: unto whofe merciful arms (with all due 
refpects) I leave you, wifhing heartily that mercy and goodnefs 
may ever follow you and yours. 

Roger Williams. 

Sir, to your dear companion, Mr. Deputy, Mr. Bellingham, 
and theirs, all respective falutes, &c. 

It is interesting to note the records made by the two 
great New England historians concerning this earthquake. 
Governor Bradford's account is circumstantial: 

This year, aboute ye 1. or 2. of June, was a great & fearful! 
earthquake; it was in this place heard before it was felte. It 
came with a rumbling noyse, or low murmiu-e, like unto remote 
thunder; it came from ye norward & pased southward. As ye 
noyse aproched nerer, the earth begane to shake and came at 
length with that violence as caused platters, dishes, & such like 
things as stoode upon shelves, to clatter & fall downe; yea, 
persons were afraid of ye houses them selves. It so fell oute yt 
at ye same time diverse of ye cheefe of this towne were mett 
together at one house, conferring with some of their friends that 
w^ere upon their removall from ye place, (as if ye Lord would 
herby shew ye signes of his displeasure, in their shaking a peeces 
& removalls one from an other.) How ever it was very terrible 
for ye time, and as ye men were set talking in ye house, some 
women and others were without ye dores, and ye earth shooke 
with yt violence as they could not stand without catching hould 
of ye posts & pails yt stood next them; but ye violence lasted not 
long. And aboute halfe an hower, or less, came an other noyse 
& shaking, but nether so loud nor strong as ye former, but 
quickly passed over; and so it ceased. It was not only on ye 
sea coast, but ye Indeans felt it within land; and some ships 
that were upon ye coast were shaken by it. So powerfull is ye 
mighty hand of ye Lord, as to make both the earth & sea to 
shake, and the mountaines tremble before him, when he pleases; 
and who can stay his hand? It was observed that ye somers, 



218 Roger Williams 

for divers years togeather after this earthquake, were not so hotte 
& seasonable for ye ripning of come & other fruits as formerly; 
but more could & moyst & subjecte to erly & untimly frosts, 
by which, many times, much Indean corne came not to maturitie; 
but whether this was any cause I leave it to naturalists to judge. ^ 

Mr. Winthrop makes a briefer record, but one which 
agrees in all essential particulars with that of Bradford. 
He does not, however, like Williams and Bradford, ex- 
tract a moral from the occurrence. He says: — 

Between three and four in the afternoon, being clear, warm 
weather, the wind westerly, there was a great earthquake. It 
came with a noise like a continued thunder, or the rattling of 
coaches in London, but was presently gone. It was at Connec- 
ticut, at Naragansett, at Pascataquack, and all the ports round 
about. It shook the ships, which rode in the harbour, and all 
the islands, &c. The noise and the shakings continued about 
four minutes. The earth was unquiet twenty days after, by 
times. ^ 

Although the personal relations of Williams with Win- 
throp were so friendly, they were not so with all. 
j ^ In December, 1670, John Cotton, the younger, then 
minister at Plymouth addressed a letter to Roger Williams, 
arraigning him with great severity, for his attitude in his 
controversy, years before, with the senior Cotton. Mr. 
Williams replied with great moderation. 

Roger Williams to John Cotton, the younger. 

Providence, 25 March, 1671 [so called]. 

Sir: — Loving respects premised. About three weeks since 
I received yoius, dated in December, and wonder not that prej- 
udice, interest and passion have lift up your feet thus to trample 
on me as on some Mahometan, Jew or Papist, some common 
thief or swearer, drunkard or adulterer; imputing to me the 

^Bradford, 437. 438. 
^Winthrop. i, 235. 



A Political Pioneer ^19 

odious crimes of blasphemies, reproaches, slanders, idolatries; 
to be in the Devil's Kingdom: a graceless man, &c., and all this 
without any Scripture, reason, or argument, which might en- 
lighten my conscience as to any error or offence to God or your 
dear father. I have now much above fifty years humbly and 
earnestly begged of God to make me as vile as a dead dog in 
my own eye, so that I might not fear what men should falsely 
say or cruelly do against me; and I have had long experience of 
his merciful answer to me in men's false charges and cruelties 
against me to this hour. 

My great offence (you so often repeat) is my wrong to your 
dear father, — your glorified father, &c. But the truth is, the 
love and honor which I have always showed (in speech and 
writing) to that excellently learned and holy man, your father, 
have been so great, that I have been censured by divers for it. 
God knows that, for God's sake, I tenderly loved and honored 
his person, (as I did the persons of the magistrates, ministers, 
and members whom I knew in Old England, and knew their 
holy affections and upright aims and great self denial, to enjoy 
more of God in this wilderness); and I have therefore desired 
to waive all personal feelings and rather mention their beauties, 
to prevent the insultings of the Papists or profane Protestants, 
who used to scoff at the wealaiess — yea, at the divisions — of 
those they use to brand for Puritans. The holy eye of God 
hath seen this the cause why I have not said nor writ what 
abundantly I could have done, but have rather chose to bear 
all censures, losses and hardships, &c. 

This made that honored father of the Bay, Mr. Winthrop, 
to give me the testimony, not only of examplary diligence in the 
ministry, (when I was satisfied in it) but of patience also, in 
these words in a letter to me: "Sir, we have often tried your 
patience but could never conquer it." My humble desire is 
still to bear, not only what you say, but, when power is added 
to your will, an hanging or burning from you, as you plainly 
intimate you would long since have served my book, had it been 
your own, as not being fit to be in the possession of any Christian, 
as you write. 



220 Roger Williams 

Alas! Sir, what hath this book merited but presseth holiness 
of heart, holiness of life, holiness of worship, and pity to poor 
sinners, and patience toward them while they break not the 
civil peace? 'Tis true, my first book, the Bloudy Tenent was 
burnt by the Presbyterian party (then prevailing) ; but this book 
whereof we now speak (being my Reply to your father's Answer) 
was received with applause and thanks by the army, by the 
Parliament, professing that, of necessity, — yea, of Christian 
Equity, — there could be no reconciliation, pacification, or living 
together, but by permitting of dissenting consciences to live 
amongst them; insomuch that that excellent servant of God, 
Mr. John Owen (called Dr. Owen) told me before the General 
(who sent for me about that very business) that, before I landed, 
himself and many others had answered Mr. Cotton^s book al- 
ready. The first book, and the point of permitting Dissenters, 
his majesty's royal father assented to; and how often hath the 
son, our sovereign, declared himself indulgent toward dis- 
senters, notwithstanding the clamors and plottings of his self- 
seeking bishops! And, sir (as before and formerly) I add, if 
yourself, or any in public or private, show me any failing against 
God or your father in that book, you shall find me diligent and 
faithful in weighing and confessing or replying in love and 
meekness. 

Oh! you say, wrong to a father made a dumb child speak, 
&c. Sir, I pray forget not that your father was not God, but 
man, — sinful, and failing in many things, as we all do, saith the 
Holy Scripture. I presume you know the scheme of Mr. Cotton' s 
Contradictions (about church discipline,) presented to the world 
by Mr. Daniel Cawdrey, a man of name and note. Also, Sir, 
take heed you prefer not the Earthen pot (though your excel- 
lent father) before his most high eternal Maker and Potter. 
Blessed that you were born and proceeded from him, if you 
honor him more for his humility and holiness than for outward 
respect, which some (and none shall justly more than myself) 
put upon him. 

Sir, you call my three proposals, &c., abominable, false and 
wicked; but, as before, thousands (high and holy, too, some of 



A Political Pioneer 221 

them) will wonder at you. Captain Goodkins, from Cambridge, 
writes me word that he will not be my antagonist in them, being 
candidly understood. Youi honored Governour tells me there 
is no foundation for any dispute with Plymouth about these pro- 
posals; for you force no men's conscience. But, sir, you have 
your liberty to prove these abominable, false, and wicked, and 
so disprove that which I have presented in the book concerning 
the New England churches to be but parochial and national, 
though sifted with a finer sieve and painted with finer colors. 

You are pleased to count me excommunicate; and therein you 
deal more cruelly with me than with all the profane, and Pro- 
testants and Papists too, with whom you hold communion in 
the parishes, to which (as you know) all are forced by the bishops. 
And yet you count me a slave to the Devil, because, in conscience 
to God, and love to God and you, I have told you of it. But, 
Sir, the truth is, (I will not say I excommunicate you, but) I 
first withdraw communion from yourselves for halting between 
Christ and Antichrist — the parish churches and Christian con- 
gregations. Long after, when you had consultations of killing 
me, but some rather advised a dry pit of banishment, Mr. Peters 
advised an excommunication to be sent me, (after the manner of 
Popish bulls, &c.) but this same man in London, embraced me, 
and told me he was for liberty of conscience and preached it; 
and complained to me of Salem for excommunicating his dis- 
tracted wife, and for wronging him in his goods which he left 
behind him. 

Sir, you tell me my time is lost, &c., because (as I conceive 
you) not in the function of ministry. I confess the oflices of 
Christ Jesus are the best callings; but generally they are the 
worst trades in the world, as they are practised only for a main- 
tenance, a place, a living, a benefice, &c. God hath many 
employments for his servants. Moses forty years, and the 
Lord Jesus thirty years, were not idle, though little known what 
they did as to any ministry; and the two prophets prophesy in 
sackcloth, and are Christ Jesus his ministers, though not owned 
by the public ordinations. God knows, I have much and long 
and conscientiously and mournfully weighed and digged into 



L 



9.22 Roger Williams 

the differences of the Protestants themselves about the ministry. 
He knows what gains and preferments I have refused in univer- 
sities, city, country and court, in Old England, and something in 
New England, &c., to keep my soul undefiled in this point, and 
not to act with a doubting conscience, &c. God was pleased to 
show me much of this in Old England; and in New, being unan- 
imously chosen teacher at Boston, (before your dear father came, 
divers years,) I conscientiously refused, and withdrew to Plym- 
outh, because I durst not officiate to an unseparated people, as, 
upon examination and conference I found them to be. At 
Plymouth I spake on the Lord's days and week days, and wrought 
hard at the how for my bread, (and so afterward at Salem) until 
I found them both professing to be a separated people in New 
England (not admitting the most godly to communion without 
a covenant) and yet communicating with the parishes in Old by 
their members repairing on frequent occasions thither. 

Sir, I heartily thank you for your conclusion, — wishing my 
conversion and salvation; without which, surely vain are our 
privileges of being Abraham's sons enjoying the covenant, holy 
education, holy worship, holy church or temple; of being 
adorned with deep understanding, miraculous faith, angelic parts 
and uttrance; the titles of pastors or apostles, yea, of being 
sacrifices in the fire to God. 

Sir, I am unworthy (though desirous to be) 

Your friend and servant, 

Roger Williams*. 
To Mr. John Cotton, at his house in N. Plymouth, these Present. 

But Mr. Williams's evenness of temper and sweetness 
of spirit did not serve to free him from antagonisms and 
troubles in his daily life in his own colony. Allusion has 
already been made to the almost constant dissensions in 
the Plantations and the efforts of Williams supplemented 
by those of Sir Henry Vane to heal them. That he was, 

Troc. Mass. Hist. Soc, 1855-1858, 313 et seq. Pub. Nar. Club, 
351, et seq. 



A Political Pioneer 

in this effort, unsuccessful is shown in the outbreak of a 
personal feud with one William Harris, one of the original 
party who sat down with Williams at Seekonk, and with 
him removed to Moshaussic. Harris being concerned 
in an attack upon Cromwell, then Lord Protector of 
England, although he was a prominent man of the town, 
Williams, as president of the colony thought it his duty 
to institute proceedings against him. He accordingly 
issued a warrant for the arrest of Harris, March 12, 1656. 
This aroused the bitter enmity of the latter, which con- 
tinued for many years. In 1677 Harris made formal 
charges against Mr. Williams. These charges Williams 
met in an elaborate reply, addressed to the "Assembly 
of Commissioners" and also the Inquest or Jury, sent from 
the respective Colonies to Providence. 

Defence of Roger Williams. 

To the much honoured assembly of Commissioners and also the 
Inquest or Jury, sent from the respective Colonies to Provi- 
dence, 

17th, 9th mo, 1677 (so called) [Nov. 17, 1677.] 

The answer of Roger Williams, to the Declaration of W. 
Harris against the town of Providence, in what particularly, by 
name the said W. H. falsly and simply accuseth the said Roger 
Williams. 

1st. He chargeth Roger Williams, for taking the land of Prov- 
idence in his own name, which should have been taken in the 
name of those that came up with him. 2d. he sold the lands 
of Providence for more than it cost him. 3d. He promised 
Pawtuxet for £5 and took £20. 4th. He stirred up Providence 
men to rise simultaneously against Pawtuxet men. 

I answer, it pleased the most high to direct my steps into 
this Bay, by the loving private advice of that very honored soul 
Mr. John Winthrop the Grandfather, who, though he was carried 



224 Roger Williams 

with the stream for my banishment, yet he personally & tenderly 
loved me to his last breath. It is not true that I was imployed 
by any, made covenant with any, was supplied by any, or desired 
any to come with me into these parts. My soul's desire was to 
do the natives good, and to that end to have their language, 
(which I afterwards printed) and therefore desired not to be 
troubled with English company, yet out of Pity, I gave leave to 
W. Harris, then poor and destitute, to come along in my com- 
pany, I consented to John Smith, Miller, at Dorchester (banished 
also) to go with me, and at John Smith's desire, to a poor young 
fellow, Francis Wicks, as also to a lad of Richard Watermans. 
These are all I remember. But to what could any of these pre- 
tend? to be put in the first grant equal to myself, I promised 
Wm. Harris land and others also, if it pleased God to vouchsafe 
it to me: but God furnished myself with advantages, which Wm. 
H. nor scarce any in New England had. 1st, a constant zealous 
desire to dive into the Indian language. 2d, God was pleased to 
give me a painful Patient spirit to lodge with them, in their 
filthy smoke holes, (even while I lived at Plymouth and Salem) 
to gain their tongue. 3d, I spared no cost, toward them, and 
in Gifts to Onsamaquin, yea and to all his, and to Conanicus & 
his, tokens and presents many years before I came in person to 
the Nahiganset, and therefore when I came I was Welcome to 
Osamaquin, and that old prince Conanicus, who was most shy 
of all English, to his last breath. 4th, I was known to all the 
Wampanogs & the Maginsiks to be public speaker & at Ply- 
mouth & Salem, and therefore with them held as a Sachem. 
5 th, I could debate with them in a great measure in their own 
Language. 6th, I had the favour and countenance of that 
noble soul Mr. Winthrop whom all Indians respected. 7th, I 
mortgaged my house and Land at Salem (with some hundredths) 
for supplies to go through, and therefore was it a simple business 
for me to put in one with my self, all that came with me and 
afterwards, were not engaged, but came and went at pleasure; 
but I was forced to go through and stay by it. 

2d. As to my selling to them Pawtuxet & Providence: It is 
not true that I was such a fool to sell either of them, especially 



A Political Pioneer 225 

as W. H. saith "like an Halter in the Market who gives most." 
The Truth in the Holy presence of the Lord is this. Wm. H. 
Pretending Religion, wearied me with desires, that I should 
admit him and others into fellowship of my purchase. I yielded 
and agreed that the place should be for such as were destitute 
(especially for Conscience Sake) and that each person so ad- 
mitted should pay 30s country pay, toward a town stock, and 
myself have <£30 toward my charges, which I have had .£28 in 
broken parcels in 5 years. Pawtuxet I parted with at a ismall 
addition to Providence (for then that monstrous bound or 
business of upstream without Limits, was not thought of) Wm. 
Harris and the first 12 of Providence were restless for Pawtuxet 
and I parted with it upon the same terms viz. for the supply of 
the destitute, and I had a loan of them (then dear) when these 
12 men (out of pretence of Conscience & my desire of peace) 
had gotten the power out of my hands, yet they still yielded to 
my grand desire of propagating a public interest, and confessed 
themselves but as feoffees, for all the many scores, who were reed 
afterwards paid the 30s, not to the purchasers (so called) as pro- 
prietors, but as feoffees for a Town Stock — and 2d, Wm. Field, 
the builder of this house, and others told the new comers that 
they must not think that they bought and sold the right to all the 
lands and meadows in common and 100 acres presently, and 
power of voting and all for 30s, but that it went to a town and 
public use. As to the Simple Charge that I bought cheap and 
sold dear, Mr. Harris Cannot be ignorant that Connanicus 
(whom he calls in the Declaration the conquerer of all these 
parts) he was not I say, to be stirred with money to sell his Lands 
to let in foreigners. 'Tis true he reed presents and gratuities 
many of me, but it was not Thousand nor Ten Thousands of 
money could have bought of him an English Entrance into the 
Bay. Thousands could not have bought of him Providence or 
Pawtuxet or Aquideneck or any other land I had of him. I 
gave him and his youngest Brother's son, Miantunoma, gifts of 
two sorts. 1st, former presents from Plymouth and Salem. 
2d, I was here their councellor and secretary in all their wars 
with Pequods, Munhiggins, Long Hardres, Wanipanongs. 



g26 Roger Williams 

They had my son, my shallop and Pinnace and hired servant &e., 
at command on all occasions. Transporting 50 at a Time and 
Lodging 50 at a time at my house, I never denied them ought, 
that Lawfully they desired of me. Connanicus laid me out 
Grounds for a trading house at Nahiganset with his own hands, 
but he never traded with me, but had freely what he desired, 
goods, money, so that 'tis simple to imagine, that many hun- 
dreds excused me, to the last of that man's breath, who dying 
sent for me and desired to be buried in my cloth of free gift 
and so he was. And my trading house which yielded me £100 
profit pCT annum, God knows, that for the public peace sake, 
I left and Lost it about 20 Years since, when I went last for Eng- 
land. But honoured Gentlemen (bench & jury) I Beg your 
patience for a word more. He declares I stired up Providence 
men against Pawtuxet men. I answer, I have been always 
blamed for being too mild, and the Truth is Chace Brown, a 
wise and Godly soul (now with God) with my self brought the 
murmuring after comers, and the first monopolizing 12 to a 
oneness by arbitration, chosen out of ourselves and Pawtuxet 
was allowed (only for Peace sake) to the first 12, and the 12 
gave me a share which I accepted after the arbitration. But 
as to upstream without limits (in the boundless and mon- 
sterous sense it is now urged) it came from the same forge 
from whence bloody & monstrous Hocest Corpus, this is my 
body, Muim, cume. Gentlemen when you find Wickedness, 
it is your duty to terify & use your sword the sword of God 
and the King and New England, where you find well doers, 
as this poor town of Providence, some in it trodden under 
the feet of Pride about 40 years. Commend them, praise 
them and Relieve them, so will, not the judge of the World be 
a terror to you in the day of your trials, but be a balsom of 
consolation to your souls, for which earnestly Cries to 
Heaven Your most Unworthy Servant 

R. Williams. 

P. S. — If there be any diflFerence between W. H. & me, I 
humbly offer to end it by arbitration, which I humbly conceive 



A Political Pioneer 227 

as will be the only medicine for this long and Multiph'ed disease 
now before you, and best answer his Majesties and all desires in 
this business, by this means the Country will be inhabited and 
with joy and speed.* 

This letter is of much interest apart from its example 
of vigorous defence against what the writer regarded as 
unjust accusations, but as showing forth that evenness of 
spirit to which Winthrop alluded as a distinguishing 
characteristic of his friend Williams. It also gives us 
some particulars as to the personalities of his early com- 
panions in exile, which have nowhere else been revealed. 
But especially it discloses the fact that the business of 
Indian trading, which was begun at Salem and interrupted 
by his banishment, was re-opened at the Providence 
Plantations and continued with large projfit, up to the 
time of his second visit to England. This trading house 
was erected on the westerly shore of the Bay, some fifteen 
miles south of Providence, near the place where is now the 
village of Wickford. The Indian name of the place was 
Cawcawmsquissick, but is called by Williams, Narragan- 
sett. Here were written very many of the letters to 
Governor Winthrop, which are still preserved. This 
place was in the region where lived Ninigret, one of his 
powerful sachem friends. It was thus convenient for 
the visits of hunters bringing their furs, and the distance 
was not great across the Bay to Newport, then rising in 
importance as a shipping port and the chief town of the 
colony, in point of wealth. We have seen that, in the 
apportionment of the sum of one hundred pounds, voted 
by the colony to be paid to Roger Williams for his ser- 
vices and expenses in procuring the charter, the amount 
to be paid by Newport was as large as the combined 



'R. I. Hist. Tracts xiv, 52, et seq. 



^28 Roger Williams 

shares of Providence and Portsmouth. It was important, 
then, that the trading house should be within easy reach 
of Newport for here he could the most easily dispose of 
his barter in the market, or ship it to England, and pur- 
chase the supplies of cloth and finery, sugar and other 
articles, necessary to meet the wants of the Indians with 
whom he traded. The profits of this trading house, he 
tells us, were fully one hundred pounds annually, or five 
hundred dollars of the American currency of the present 
day. In purchasing power this sum was doubtless equal, 
in that day, to several times that amount in modern cur- 
rency. Thus the colony voted to reimburse their agent 
in the amount which he would have gained by his trad- 
ing, had he remained at home. 

As is well understood, and especially through his pam- 
phlet, Hireling Ministry none of Chrisfsy Williams was 
conscientiously opposed to the employment of the min- 
isterial profession as a means of livelihood. In this he 
was thoroughly consistent, for we know that at Plymouth 
and at Salem, and afterward at Providence he labored 
as did the others for his own support and that of his family. 
Of this we have his own testimony. "It is not unknown 
to many witnesses," he wrote, "in Plymouth, Salem and 
Providence, that the discusser's time hath not been spent 
(through as much as any others whosoever) altogether 
in spiritual labours and public exercise of the word, but 
day and night, at home and abroad, on the land and 
water, at the how, at the oare, for bread."* 
: Of the family of Williams for whose support he thus 
labored, and afterward established his trading house at 
Narragansett, but little has been said, and indeed little 
is known. We have learned of his disappointment in 



^The Bloudy Tenent yet more Bloudy, Pub. Nar. Club, iv, 103. 



A Political Pioneer 229 

his love affair with Jane Whalley and we know that in 
less than two years after this episode in his life he sailed 
from Bristol for New England, accompanied by his wife 
Mary. We know already that his first child, Mary, was 
born during his life at Plymouth, and he makes frequent 
mention of his wife and children left behind at Salem, at 
his banishment. The record shows that a second daughter 
was born to him in Salem, and that she was named Free- 
borne. This child was not born when the order of the 
General Court, expelling him from the jurisdiction was 
passed, September 3, 1635; and she was but a few weeks 
old when he took his departure. 

How the journey of Mrs. Williams, from Salem to 
Providence was accomplished, with her two children, one 
two years and the other an infant in arms, is not easy to 
conjecture. It is probable that occasion was taken to 
forward them on their journey by some trading vessel 
alonff the coast. The first book of records of the town of 
Providence contains a record of the births of six children 
of Roger and Mary Williams. 

Mary ye daughter of Roger Williams & Mary his wife was 
borne at Plymouth ye first weeke in August, 1633 (so called) 

Freeborne ye daughter of Roger Williams & Mary his wife 
was born at Salem in ye later end of Octob 1635 (so called) 

Providence ye son of Roger Williams & Mary his wife was 
borne at Providence in ye latter end of ye month September 1638 
(so called) 

Mercy ye daughter of Roger Williams & Mary his wife was 
borne at Providence about ye 15th of July 1640 

Daniell ye son of Roger Williams & Mary his wife was borne 
at Providence about the 15 of February 1641 (so called) counting 
yeare to begin about ye 25 of March so yt he was borne above a 
year & half after Mercy. 

Joseph ye son of Roger & Mary Williams his wife was borne 



230 Roger Williams 

at Providence about ye beginning of ye 10th month, Decemb, 
1643 (so called) 

With this quaint and simple entry and with a brief al- 
lusion, here and there in the writings of Williams, to his 
son, the formal record of his domestic life must cease. 
But in an ancient burying ground in a corner of the city*s 
noble park, which bears the name of its founder, stands 
a stone bearing the name of Joseph, son of Roger Williams, 
while around are the graves of his descendants. 



CHAPTER XVI 

It was fully twenty years after the publication of the 
last of his controversial works already discussed, before 
Roger Williams again, and then for the last time, entered 
the arena of controversy. It is this episode in his life 
which is the least creditable to him, and upon which 
those who in other respects are admirers of his character 
and principles, are the least anxious to dwell. This was 
his famous controversy with George Fox, the ejsponent 
of the doctrines of the Quakers. In this he not only dis- 
played an acrimonious spirit, in the use of harsh and 
abusive terms and epithets, but showed forth such a 
testimony of uncharitableness, savoring of intolerance, 
as to belie much which he had argued in former years, 
to the end that none should be disturbed for cause of con- 
science. Many of the people called Quakers, driven 
from Massachusetts and elsewhere, some from town to 
town at the cart's tail, had taken refuge at Aquidneck 
and had here formed an important community. To this 
day some of the descendants of these peculiar people are 
found there. Many of the prominent men of the colony 
were attracted to this body, as much, perhaps, by the 
simple sweetness of their lives, as by a growing belief in 
their peculiar tenets. The attention of Roger Williams, 
as a religious controversialist, had been attracted toward 
them. He was once visited by two women of the sect, 
who endeavored in vain to interest him in their doctrines. 
He visited, upon one occasion, one of their General as- 
semblies at Newport, and there arose and "began to pre- 
sent to them some considerations about the true Christ 



232 Roger Williams 

and the false, the true Spirit and the false." But since 
the meeting was not called for the purpose of controversy, 
but rather for worship, he had scarcely begun when one 
of the brethren arose and began a prayer. This was 
followed by singing and this quickly in turn by another 
prayer, and the dissolution of the assembly — a method 
not wholly unknown at the present day, when a meet- 
ing for religious worship is interrupted by a "crank," 
who desires to present some peculiar notion, at variance 
with the spirit of the gathering. 

In the year 1671, the Quakers of Aquidneck were 
visited by their famous leader George Fox and an as- 
sembly of several days' duration was held. This was 
no doubt, similar in purport and conduct to the "Yearly 
Meeting of Friends," now annually held at Newport. 
This occasion was, of course, uncommon, for it was the 
first, and possibly the only visit of Fox to New England. 
As he said, *'it was upon him from the Lord to go beyond 
the sea, to visit the plantations in America." With a 
party of followers he sailed from Gravesend, in the sum- 
mer of that year, and proceeded to the Barbadoes, where 
was a colony of people of his faith. Thence he went to 
Maryland, and so along the coast northward, until Narra- 
gansett Bay and Aquidneck were reached. Here the 
assembly was held, continuing six days, large numbers of 
men and women of the faith being present. This seems 
to have been to them a meeting of great spiritual up- 
lifting. Leaving Newport at the conclusion of the meet- 
ing — which was followed by two days of social inter- 
course and leave-taking — Fox went to Providence, where 
he held a meeting "in a great barn," which was thronged 
with interested people. From here he went to Narragan- 
sett, where a meeting was held for the propagation of the 
faith, none such having ever been held at that place be- 



A Political Pioneer 233 

fore. Much interest was created and some converts to 
the doctrines of Fox were made. From this place Fox 
went to Shelter Island for a time, and thence returned to 
Aquidneck — or Rhode Island, as it was now called — 
where he remained for several weeks. 

Roger Williams was always interested in religious ideas 
or beliefs promulgated; and long before the visit of Fox 
to Rhode Island he had seen and carefully read the 
Quaker leader's book: The Great Mystery of the Great 
Whore unfolded; and Anti-Christ's Kingdom revealed 
unto Destruction. (London, 1659.) Impressed by the 
attention and excitement caused by Fox's visit, he read it 
a second time, and was irresistibly seized with his old 
controversial spirit. He was now upwards of seventy 
years of age, and had for a long time been but little con- 
cerned with public affairs. But the fire within him was 
not quenched. He determined to challenge Fox to a 
doctrinal controversy, and to that end prepared a series 
of propositions, fourteen in number, which he offered 
for the consideration of his opponent. These he for- 
warded to Fox, addressed to him at Newport, and en- 
closed in a formal challenge. This was to Fox or all 
comers. It was stipulated by Williams in his challenge 
that seven of these propositions were to be debated at 
Newport and seven at Providence. The challenged 
party was to fix the time for the debate to begin, but was 
to give his opponent at least six days notice of the time 
fixed. It was also stipulated that "without interruption, 
or many speaking at once," the conference should con- 
tinue from nine in the morning until about four in the 
afternoon; that if either of the seven propositions should 
not be finished in one day the conference should be con- 
tinued upon that proposition, the next day; that either 
disputant should have "free, uninterrupted liberty to 



234 Roger Williams 

speak, in answers and replies as much and as long as*' 
he should desire. The fourteen propositions were these: 

1. That the people called Quakers are not true Quakers 
according to the holy Scriptures. 

2. That the Christ they profess is not the true Lord Jesus 
Christ. 

3. That the spirit by which they are acted is not the Spirit of 
God. 

4. That they do not own the holy scriptures. 

5. Their principles and possessions are full of contradictions 
and hypocrisies. 

6. That their religion is not only a heresy in the matters of 
worship, but also in the doctrines of repentance, faith, etc. 

7. Their religion is but a confused mixture of popery, Armin- 
ianism, Socineanism, Judaism, etc. 

8. The people called Quakers (in eflFect) hold no God, no 
Christ, no spirit, no angel, no devil, no resurrection, no judg- 
ment, no heaven, no hell, but what is in man. 

9. All that their religion requires (external and internal) to 
make converts and proselytes amounts to no more than what a 
reprobate may easily attain unto, and perform. 

10. That the popes of Rome do not swell with, and excercise 
a greater pride than the Quakers' spirit hath exprest and doth 
aspire unto, although many truly humble souls may be capti- 
vated amongst them, as may be in other religions. 

11. The Quaker's religion is more obstructive and destructive 
to the conversion and salvation of the souls of people, than most 
of the religions this day extant in the world. 

' 12. The sufferings of the Quakers are no true evidence of the 
truth of their religion. 

13. That their many books and writings are extremely poor, 
lame, naked, and swelled up only with high titles, and words of 
boasting and vapor. 

14. That the spirit of their religion tends mainly, 

1. To reduce persons from civility to barbarism. 



A Political Pioneer 235 

2. To an arbitrary government and the dictates and 
decrees of that sudden spirit that acts them, 

3. To a sudden cutting off of people, yea, of kings and 
princes opposing them. 

4. To as fiery persecutions for matters of religion and con- 
science, as hath been or can be practised by any hunters or 
persecutors in the world. 

This challenge and series of propositions to be debated 
Mr. Williams enclosed under cover to Deputy Governor 
John Cranston at Newport, as a man of prominence in 
the community. He did not, however, keep secret the 
fact that he had sent such a challenge to Fox, but, on the 
contrary, published both the fact and the challenge 
abroad in the town, by sending a copy to a neighbor who 
was inclined to Quaker opinions. This neighbor read 
the propositions at a meeting of the people of the faith 
at Providence. In the assembly was one John Grossman, 
a Quaker, who was master of the packet which ran be- 
tween Providence and Newport. Grossman was es- 
pecially incensed at this attack of Williams upon his 
faith, and meeting him in the street assailed him with 
violent language, applying to him the epithet of "blind 
sot," and demanding to know how he dared to send his 
fourteen lies to such a man as George Fox. 

The challenge and propositions did not come to the eye 
of Fox, previous to the debate which followed. He was 
upon the eve of his departure from Newport, and it is 
probable that Grossman, being evidently a man of slight 
education and little breeding, suppressed the letter sent 
to Deputy Governor Cranston, by his vessel, under the 
mistaken belief that thus he would do a service to Mr. 
Fox. At all events, the letter, which bore date of July 
13, did not reach the hand of Governor Cranston until 



2S6 Roger Williams 

ten days later, and not until after Fox had left Newport. 
This aroused the suspicions of Williams that Fox, being 
made well aware of the probable contents of the Cranston 
letter, had arranged that it should not be delivered, until 
after his departure should make its acceptance by him 
impossible. With the greatest force Williams made the 
charge, afterward, that Fox, not daring to meet him in 
open debate had "slyly departed," and left the burden 
of the proposed discussion to be borne by his friends and 
supporters. 

Notwithstanding the sharp and, in a measure, insulting 
phraseology of the fourteen propositions, the Quakers of 
Newport resolved to meet Williams upon the ground 
which he had staked out. A deputation of them proceeded 
to Providence and waited upon Williams. "Their saluta- 
tions were," he says, " (like the meetings of their dumb 
spirit) in silence;" but he bade them welcome. Through 
their spokesman, John Stubs, the challenge of Williams 
was accepted, although, as they informed him, the paper 
had not been delivered until after the departure of Fox, 
which fact would operate to prevent his presence to aid 
them in the discussion. But as the challenge was thrown 
down "to all comers," they would take it up as best they 
might. After arranging some of the details of the approach- 
ing contest, Mr. Williams produced a decanter and 
glasses, and offered refreshment to his guests, some of 
whom accepted his proffered hospitality. 

Upon the day previous to that fixed for the opening of 
the debate, Mr. Williams left Providence in a rowboat, 
and performed the remarkable feat of rowing the entire 
distance to Newport, fully thirty miles, that he might be 
present at the time appointed. "God graciously assisted 
me in rowing all day with my old bones," he recorded. 



A Political Pioneer 237 

"so that I got to Newport toward the midnight before 
the morning appointed."* 

Mr. Williams, on entering the meeting-house of the 
Quakers, at the time fixed for the beginning of the wordy 
contest, found three men opposed to him — John Stubs, 
John Burnet and William Edmundson. They were 
seated together upon the "high seats." Williams thus 
characterizes his opponents. 

John Stubs was learned in the Hebrew and the Greek: as for 
John Burnet I found him to be of a moderate spirit and a very 
able speaker. The third, W. Edmundson, was newly come 
(as was said) from Virginia and he proved the chief speaker, a 
man not so able nor so moderate as the other two; for the two 
first would speak argument and discuss and produce scripture, 
but William Edmundson was very ignorant in the scripture or 
any other learning. He had been a soldier in the late wars, a 
stout portly man of a great voice and fit to make a Bragadocia 
(as he did) and a constant exercise merely of my patience. He 
would often vapor and preach long and when I had patiently 
waited till the gust was over and began to speak, then would he 
stop my mouth with a very unhandsome clout of a grievous 
interruption, so that sometimes I was forc't to play the moderator, 
and to protest that such practices were against the sober rules of 
civility and humanity. ^ 

On the first day of the debate Williams took his place 
at the rear of the house and from this position discussed 
his propositions. On the second day, being somewhat 
indisposed — the exertion of his long row no doubt pro- 
ducing its effect — he seated himself near the middle of 
the house, and so remained until the close of the discussion 
of the first seven of the propositions. The discussion 
occupied three days at Newport, and was then adjourned 



»Pub. Nar. Club, v, 37. 
^Pub. Nar. Club, v, 38. 



^38 Roger Williams 

to Providence, where it was continued for one day longer. 
Williams with the intent, no doubt, of publishing the 
debate, endeavored to procure the services of a short-hand 
writer but in this effort he was unsuccessful. He was 
obliged, therefore, to be his own reporter; and this he 
was, in a thick volume, published in 1676. Mr. Edmund 
Burrows, being one of the promoters, with Fox, of the 
doctrines of the Quakers, Williams, in his book em- 
ploys the two names in a title, which is as bad in its pun, 
as it is questionable in its taste, and doubtful in its Christian 
Spirit. The full title of the book is this: 

George Fox Digg'd out of his Burro wes; or an Offer of Dis- 
putation on fourteen Proposalls made this last Summer 1672 
(so called) unto G. Fox then present on Rode Island in New 
England, by R. W. As also how (G. Fox slily departing) the 
Disputation went on being managed three dayes at Newport 
on Rode Island, and one day at Providence, between John 
Stubs, John Burnet and William Edmundson on the one part 
and R. W. on the other. In which many quotations out of G. 
Fox and Ed. Burrowes Book in Folio are alleadged, with an 
Appendix of some scores of G. F. his simple lame Answers to 
his Opposites in that Book, quoted and replyed to by R. W. of 
Providence in N. E. Boston: Printed by John Foster, 1676. 

In his introduction to this work, Mr. Williams relates 
the circumstances, already shown forth, of his sending 
the challenge to George Fox, to debate with him his 
fourteen propositions. He could not be persuaded that 
Fox did not leave Newport for the purpose of avoiding 
the contest, and thus in his title page he makes the accu- 
sation that he "slyly departed." He thus asserts: 

In the Junto of the Foxonians at Newport it was concluded 
for Infallible Reasons that His Holiness G. Fox should with- 
draw; seeing that there was such a knot of the Apostles of Jesus 
Christ now at Newport together, (especially John Stubs, a man 



A Political Pioneer 239 

knowing the Greek and Hebrew.) Therefore, that it might 
appear that such a Nehemiah as he would not fly, it was agreed 
that my Letters should not be delivered to the Deputy Governour 
until G. Fox was gone; so that it might be truly said, that he 
never saw the Paper which I sent unto him, I had a touch of 
this Leger de main trick in our Dispute at Newport, and the 
Deputy Governour did publickly testify that my letters to him 
were dated the 13 of July, (which he said he wondered at) but 
were not broouht to him until G. Fox was some hours departed. 
John Burniat protest that he knew nothing of the detaining of 
the Letters, only he knew that G. Fox never saw my Paper. 
G. F. Supposed I would be forced to be as plain in my Proofs 
as I was in my Positions. He knew that I was furnishe with 
Artillery out of his own Writings. He saw what Consequences 
would roll down the mountains upon him from, his proud and 
insolent, yet poor, bald writings; and how far some of his present 
practices were fallen out with his writings, and therefore this 
old Fox thought it best to run for it, and leave the work to his 
journeymen and chaplains to perform in his absence for him. 

George Fox in reply to the attack of Williams published 
a book under the title: A New England Fire Brand 
Quenched. In this Fox shows conclusively that his 
writings, if "poor," were certainly not "bald," for in 
remarkably vigorous language, he answers these accusa- 
tions of his opponent. He says: 

These are four great Lies: for G. F. knew not what was in 
thy Papers, Roger, neither had G. F. seen the copies of these 
Proposals; neither did G. F. hinder their being delivered to the 
Governour. Nor did G. F. ever receive any letters from R. W., 
or go away for fear of him or them ; nor was it a likely thing, that he 
should, when he knew nothing of them, for as I said before, when I 
was at Providence, where this Roger lives, he came not at me. And 
if he had anything to have spoken to me, he might easily have 
done it, or have written to me, and have sent the same copies to 
me, he sent to Captain Cranston; and not have made a clamour 



240 Roger Williams 

against me, belying of me to the world behind my back, when 
I was gone. But this is like the Fruits of his Spirit, but not the 
Spirit of Christ and his diciples, "Oh! how darest thou, Roger 
Williams, publish such false lyes to the world, when thou knowest 
Conscience that G. F. never had any writing, or letter, or pro- 
posal from thee; neither did he ever exchange word with thee. 
The Lord God of Heaven knowes it, and the Deputy Governour 
knowes that I received none of thy writings or papers of pro- 
posals by him. Behold all sober people the foundation of this 
man's attempt, the beginning of his work; and since the founda- 
tion of thy book is a monstrous lye, the building upon such a 
foundation of lyes is not like to be otherwise; which lyes thou 
hast made thy refuge, as throughout thy book may be evidently 
seen. For except a man had sold himself to work falsehood, 
and make lyes, he could not have done more wickedly and have 
uttered falser charges than thou hast done. But the Lord God 
which knows them and sees thy evil design in them will sweep 
them away with the Besom of Destruction and clear his people 
from thy manifest false tongue.* 

Some of the propositions offered by Williams were, 
as is seen, doctrinal in their nature and capable of earnest 
debate and scriptural argument. Others, it is readily 
perceived, were simply charges alleged in apparently no 
friendly spirit, and incapable of discussion. This point 
was, indeed, urged by Burnet in the debate. Moreover, 
since apparently no judges were appointed, no decision 
could be rendered as to which party had triumphed; and 
the assembly finally adjourned, each side to the dispute 
being evidently well satisfied with the manner in which 
it had acquitted itself. Williams's book, containing his 
report of the discussion, appeared four years after its 
conclusion. Fox replied two years later with his A New 
England Fire Brand Quenched, and Burnet also made a 



*N. E. Firebrand Quenched, pt, i, 2. 



A Political Pioneer 241 

rejoinder to Williams in Truth Exalted. The discussion, 
so far as concerned Roger Williams, here ceased. It 
had been conducted on both sides in a manner little 
calculated to advance the cause of religion. In these 
writings all parties to the controversy displayed a singular 
lack of courtesy, disregarding what are considered today 
the ordinary amenities of intercourse. The attack of 
Williams upon Quakerism, bitter and acrimonious, 
drew forth remonstrances from all sides. Governor 
Coddington, who was inclined to favor the views of Fox, 
denounced Williams in strong terms, in a letter to Fox. 
Others of those whom Williams would desire to regard 
his friends arrayed themselves as his opponents. 

George Fox Digg'd out of his Burrowes, like the Bloudy 
Tenent yet more Bloudy has three introductions. The 
first of these is addressed to King Charles II, which gave 
the Quakers an opportunity of criticising the author, as 
attempting to *' curry favor" with royalty. The second 
is addressed To the People Called Quakers, This is 
couched in language which could not fail to give offence 
to those addressed. The third was addressed To those 
many Learned and Pious Men whom G. Fox hath so 
sillily and Scornfully answered in his hook in Folio, Es- 
pecially, to those whose names I have been bold to mention 
in the Narrative and Appendix, Mr. Richard Baxter and 
Mr. John Owen. "Through your sides," he begins, 
"the Devil by the Clawes of this wily Fox, hath tore at 
the heart of the Son of God." 

Judging from the report of Williams, the debate was 
conducted with indecorum upon both sides, insomuch 
that on the morning of the third day of the discussion, 
Robert Williams, the brother of Roger, "schoolmaster 
at Newport" was moved to address a letter of remon- 
strance to the disputants. This was delivered, sealed, 



242 Roger Williams 

to Roger Williams just as he was about to begin the debate 
upon the third day, but he, thinking no doubt that it 
contained some purely personal matters, put it unopened 
into his pocket. The intent of Robert Williams that it 
should be read in the public assembly was not realized; 
but it appears in full in Williams's book. In this letter 
Robert Williams remonstrates first with his brother for 
his severe attacks upon the Quakers. He says: 

You have not dealt as a faithful servant of the Lord 
Jesus, with your fellow servants, . . . you have assumed 
and presumed too much, being so large and high pro- 
posals, which do appear unto me not as charges, but 
in this first appearance as proposals, until they are 
maintained as charges by sufficient proof, wherein they 
may be molified. . . . Yet know there may be a great 
zeal without true knowledge, therefore let true zeal ap- 
pear that is not in persecution, but for the glory of 
God and truth's sake, as it is in Jesus. 

The defending disputant he reproved for "assuming 
and presuming beyond the bounds of moderation of 
Christianity," and for "indecorous behaviours both in 
words and gestures unto your [their] elder fellow ser- 
vants and aged father, complaining as not performing 
your [their] duty as young men unto rule of honour- 
ing grey hairs." Especially did the writer remonstrate 
against the reiterated addressing of his brother as 
"thou old man, thou old man," as showing disrespect to 
the aged. 

These remonstrances of Robert Williams, which would 
more properly, perhaps, proceed from him than from 
any other auditor, are in themselves a sufficient criticism 
of the debate and the manner in which it was conducted 
upon both sides. It is certain that this controversy was 



A Political Pioneer 243 

conducted by Roger Williams in a manner far less gener- 
ous and courteous than that of years before with John 
Cotton. It is evident that, with the passage of years 
Williams, when in the arena of discussion, had lost none 
of his youthful vigor, but had the rather added to it a 
querulousness, to be wondered at when we remember the 
sweetness of his disposition, so often remarked by his 
personal friends and acquaintances. When we con- 
trast with the harshness and acrimony of this attack upon 
Fox, the christian-like spirit of meekness with which he 
met the abrupt and not altogether gentle charges of John 
Cotton, the younger, and the gentleness with which he 
explained away the misapprehensions of that gentleman, 
one can but wonder by what spirit he had become pos- 
sessed; and when he rebukes the use of Thee and TJiou 
by Quakers, and says: "I have therefore publickly 
declared myself that a due and moderate restraint and 
punishing of these incivilities (though pretending con- 
science) is as far from persecution, properly so called) 
as that it is a duty and command of God unto all man- 
kinde, first in families and thence into all mankinde 
societies," one is lost in wonder if, in his overheated zeal, 
he did not himself forget the force of the great doctrine 
of which he was the first American exponent. 

And so we must take our leave of this man, whom 
history records and posterity acknowledges as one of the 
great men of an age prolific in great men. And yet his 
was a character unlike the pebble which, rolled and 
tossed by waves, becomes perfectly rounded and polished 
by continued contact with others upon the sands. His 
erudition was great, and yet it was employed in but a 
single line of thought. He was an accomplished scholar 
in the Greek, yet one searches in vain, in his writings, 
for an allusion to, or a quotation from, Homer or Plato. 



244 Roger Williams 

A personal friend of one of the greatest poets who ever 
sung, he gives no evidence that he had so much as read 
Paradise Lost^ or the Sonnet to the Nightingale. Will- 
iams was born at the time when Shakespeare was at the 
height of his literary power, and King Henry VIII 
must have appeared not far from the time when Williams 
was at Cambridge; but yet, though many and wise are 
the sayings of Avon's bard, the writings of Williams 
give evidence of scriptural study alone. He had paid 
some attention to legal studies and yet it does not seem to 
have occurred to his mind that he could not consistently 
acquire, hold, mortgage and convey real property, the 
title of the grantor of which he believed to be clouded. 
By his disputatious nature he tried often the patience of 
his dearest friends, while yet his spirit was so sweet and 
his temper so even, that he never forfeited their personal 
affection. His nature was not that of the self-seeker; he 
hazarded his life for others; and yet throughout his writ- 
ings, he does not fail to call attention, upon every suitable 
occasion, to his own sufferings and sacrifices, lest due 
credit and sympathy should be withheld from him. He 
is at times denunciatory of others and — especially as 
regards George Fox — intolerant of opinions at variance 
with his own, and still he is quick to deprecate similar 
conduct in others. He was bitterly opposed to the in- 
stitutions and ordinances of the Church of England, so 
that he denounced in unmeasured terms, those dissenters 
who even ventured to attend upon its services of worship; 
and yet, so full a believer was he in the theory of apos- 
tolic authority, that he, after his very brief experience 
as a Baptist, would accept no ordinances as valid, in the 
belief that authority to transmit their authority did not 
lie in Christ's Apostles. 

And so, one cannot write him down as a man in all 



A Political Pioneer M5 

things well rounded, for he was human, and thus well 
likened to his fellow men. He was in his earlier years, 
as saith Governor Bradford, "very unsettled in judg- 
ment." He was as a man groping in darkness, and yet 
sure that somewhere beyond him lay the light, such as no 
man yet had seen. In the Bay Colony he was trammelled 
and confined, as one ever seeking for some great truth, 
which as often ever eluded him. In the Plantations at 
Providence, with no one about him with whom he es- 
sentially differed, and no conditions present which could 
provoke controversy, his mind was set free from its con- 
finings and liberated into the light of a great human 
truth. He was not the discoverer of the great idea of 
the right of man to seek and to scatter religious thought 
even as he listeth. But it was his honor and his glory, to 
find among the tares that one precious plant, whose seed 
was sown by William Prince of Orange, and to trans- 
plant it to a virgin soil, where it might grow and flourish. 
Under his fostering, the tender plant of religious liberty 
pushed its tiny rootlets far down into the barren soil of 
New England, until they reached for their nourishment 
the living stream of truth, "a pure river of water of life, 
clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God.^' 
The true date of the death of Roger Williams is un- 
known; but it is certain that it must have occurred during 
the year 1683, and probably early in that year. Upon 
the western slope of the great hill, the foot of which was 
laved by the spring, near which he first built him his 
habitation, they made his grave, and there they buried 
him. For one hundred and seventy seven years the rays 
of the westerning sun shone upon it, and far below, and 
about was built a great and beautiful city. And at 
the grave's foot sprang up and grew a tree which, in the 
spring-time budded and blossomed forth, and in the 



246 Roger Williams 

autumn gave its fruitage to man. At length onecame 
who explored the resting place of this man, whose name 
the world had not forgotten; and in the grave they found 
the tree's root, shaped like to a human form. And then 
they knew that, even in death as in life, his spirit had 
shed forth its fragrance upon the world, and the fruits 
of his life had given life and peace to many. 



INDEX 



\ 



INDEX 



PAGE 



'A 



Aquidneck 

154, 187, 194, 231, 233, 233 

Angell, Thomas 127, 135 

Arbella, ship 69, 80 

Arnold, Benedict 137 
Arnold, William 

138, 142, 144, 145 

Ausamaquin 135 



Banishment, discussion 

171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176 
Baptism 164, 165, 166, 167 

Barrington, Lady 15, 16, 18, 

22, 24, 28, 29, 32, 185, 204 
Barrington, Sir Francis 22 
Blackstone river 128 

Blackstone, William 67, 128 
Bradford, William 

34, 35, 36, 38; 

— letter from Winthrop to 

61, 71, 72, 76, 115, 161, 217 
Bradstreet, Humfry 55 

Brenton, Mr. 55 

Brewster, William 127 

Bridge, William 185 

Bristol, ship Lyon sails 

from 3 

Brown, Chace 226 

Browne, John 53, 69, 139 

Browne, Samuel 53, 69 

Buckingham, Lord 64 

Burnet, John 237, 238, 240 
Burroughs, Jeremiah 188 



PAGE 



Cabot, Sebastian 88 

Canonicus 135, 137, 138, 149, 
154, 158, 159, 213, 224 
Carpenter, William 138 

Castle Island, fortifications 

on 94 

Charles I 23, 

order of 61, 67, 87, 89, 93, 94 
Charles II. 23 

Charter, demand for sur- 
render of 92 
Charter House 13 
Clarke, John 165, 198, 206 
Coddington, William 195, 206 
Coke, Sir Edward 

12, 14, 25, 202 
Cole, Robert 138 

Collicott, Richard 55 

Collicut, Richard 215 

Colton, John, the younger 

28, 29, 42, 218, 222 
Compact, Providence 134 

Conant, Roger 52 

Conclusions for the plan- 
tation in New England, 
Winthrop's 46 

Cotton, John 22, 28, 48, 49, 
50, 53, 105, 121, 137, 167, 
168, 169,, 170, 177, 179, 183, 
184, 185, 186, 198, 243 
Council for New Eng- 
land 64, 65, 67, 74 
Cradock, Matthew 

67, 83, 92, 216 
Cranston, John 235, 236 



250 



Index 





PAGE 


PAGE 


Cromwell, Frances 


23 


Gorges, John 67 


Cromwell, Oliver 


23, 27 


Gorges, Robert 65, 66 


Cromwell, Robert 


23 


Gorges, Sir Ferdinando 59, 


Crossman, John, 


235 


61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 


Cutshamakin 


159, 160 


69, 73, 74, 78, 83, 85, 92 
Gorton, Samuel 124 


D 




Graves, Capt. 86 




Greene, John 138 


Dean, John Ward 


13 


Grenville, Sir Richard 89 


Dexter, Dr. H. M. 


186 


GriflSn, ship 93 


Dorchester, Lord 


67 


Grove, Mary 70 


Downing, Emanuel 


59 


Guild, Reuben A. 4, 5, 6 


Downing, Mr. 


54 





H 



E 



Earthquake in New Eng- 
land 215, 216, 217 
Edmundson, William 237, 238 
Edwards, Morgan 6 
Elizabeth, Queen 63 
Endicott, John 29, 45, 49 
52, 54, 59, 67, 79, 92, 158 



Flag, Endicott's mutila- 
tion of 53, 54, 55 

Fox, George 231, 232, 233, 235, 
236, 238, 239, 241, 245 

Freemen's Oath 57 



G 

Gardiner, Sir Christopher 
59, 60, 61, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 

74, 83, 84, 85, 86, 92, 109 

Gilbert, Sir Humphrey 89 

Goldsmith, Oliver 112 

Goodkins, Captain 221 

Goodwin, Thomas 185 

Goodwyn, Mr. 55 



139 



Harris, Thomas 
Harris, William 

26, 127, 138, 223, 224 
Hawthorne, Nathaniel 92 

Haynes, Gov. John 55 

Heath, William 55 

Henry VII 88 

Henry VIII 89 

Higginson, Francis 33, 171 
Higginson, John 30 

Hodges, Almon D. 11, 26 

Holliman, Ezechiell 

138, 163, 164, 165 
Hooke, Rev. William 27 

Hooker, Thomas 

21, 49, 104, 105 
Hubbard, William 52 

Hutchinson, Mrs. Anne 

163, 164 



I 



Initial Deed 



James I 
James II 



136, 137 



45, 68, 78 
63 



Index 



251 



PAGE 

James, Thomas 138 

Jermin, Sir Thomas 60 

Jesus College 13 

Johnson, Samuel 112, 113, 114 



K 



Kennebec, river, attempt 
at colonization on 63 

Key into the Languages 
of America 178 

King's patent, Williams 
attacks 45, 108 



Land, Archbishop 

24, 53, 94, 98 
Leavitt, Capt. 59, 96 

Lenox, Duke of 64 

Locke, John 15 

Long Parliament 178, 188 

Lowdes, George Alan 15 

Luddam, Indian guide 35, 37 
Ludlow, George 215 

Lyon, ship 3, 34, 35, 70 

M 

Manhattoes 161 

Marblehead Neck 120 

Martha's Vineyard, gold- 
searchers at 64 
Martin, Sir William 124 
Mary and Jane, ship 60, 97 
Masham, Lady 23 
Masham, Sir William 15, 189 
Mason, Capt. John 59, 60, 
61, 68, 69, 86, 126, 150 
Massachusetts Bay, Col- 
ony of 3, 33, 35, 44, 59, 67, 68, 
81, 82, 90, 96, 98, 111, 112, 
120, 122, 124, 129, 149, 150, 
188, 190 



PAGE 

Mather, Cotton 

53, 106, 107, 122, 123, 166 
Maverick, Samuel 67 

Mayflower, ship, at Cape 

Cod 65 

Mayhewe, Mr. 55, 216 

Mayo, Dr. 113, 114 

Merry Mount 75, 78 

Miantonomoh 135, 137, 138 

153, 157, 158, 159, 214 
Milton, John 201, 202, 204 
Ministerial association, 

Williams attacks 44 

Mohigans 158, 192 

Morell, Rev. William 66 

Morton, Nathaniel 115 

Morton, Thomas 59 

60, 69, 74, 75, 76, 78, 79, 81, 

82, 84, 85, 90, 91, 92 



N 



Nantasket, ship Lyon 

reaches 3 

Narragansett Bay 126 

Narragansett tribe 150, 151, 
155, 157, 159, 161, 162, 193 
Nayantaquit 153, 155, 157 

New England Historic- 
Genealogical Society 6 
New England's Memorial 

116, 164 
New English Canaan 81, 84, 91 
Newport 232, 233, 237, 238 
Nye, PhUip 185 



Ollyver, Mr. 55 

Olney, Thomas 138 

Oldham, John 55 

67, 78, 148, 157, 213, 214 



252 



Index 



PAGE 



Palmer, Abraham 55 

Pascataquack 59, 60 

Passonogesset, settlement 

at 76 

Pawtucket river 128 

Pembroke College 13, 14 

Pembroke, Lord 64 

Pequots 

133, 148, 149, 150, 151, 153, 

154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 160 

Plymouth Colony, Win- 

throp's Journey to, 35; 

Williams at 37; 

Leaves 39; 70, 

71, 78, 79, 104, 112, 116 

121, 129, 135, 148, 149, 221 

Plymouth Company 66, 6S 

Popham, Sir John 63 

Providence 127, 

129, 132, 134, 145, 146, 148, 

151, 162, 187, 189, 191, 193 

Providence Plantations, 

chartered 188 



PAGE 

Salem, Williams called to 
30, 31 ; Williams leaves 
Plymouth for 43; Cotton 
visits 50 

Saltonstall, Sir Richard 60 
Sayles, Jon. 139 

Scott, Mrs. 164, 167 

Searle, Rev. C. E. 13 

Seekonk 126, 136 

Seekonk river 128 

Sempringham, ride to 

22, 49, 105, 167 
Sharpe, Samuel 103 

Simpson, Sidrach 185 

Skelton, Samuel 31, 32, 33, 57 
Slate Rock 129 

Smith, John 127 

Smith, Rev. Ralph 34 

Spencer, Mr. 55 

Standish, Capt. Myles 78 

Stebbens, Edward 55 

Stoughton, Israel 107, 108, 158 
Stubs, John 236, 237, 23S 



Q Thomson, David 67 

Throckmorton, John 138, 214 

Quakers 231 Tomlyns, Timothy 55 

232, 234, 235, 237, 238, 242 Toplady, Dr. 112, 115 



U 

Raleigh, Sir Walter 89 

Ratcliffe, Philip Underbill, Capt. John 

59, 60, 69, 83, 85, 92 71, 109, 112 

Rehoboth 126 



Vane, Sir Henry 205, 206, 222 
Sadlier, Anne Veils, contention concern- 

12, 25, 202, 203, 204, 205 ing, 49; 



Index 



253 



PAGE 

Veils (Cont.) 

John Cotton's attack upon 
51 
Verin, Joshua 

137, 141, 143, 144, 145 



W 

Walford, Thomas 67 

Wampanoags 135 

Warwick, Earl of 188 

Waters, Henry F. 6, 7, 8 

Waterman, Richard 138 

Wegnashcuck 157 

Wepiteammock 155 

Wessagusset 67 

Wescoot, Stukley 138 

Weston, Andrew and 

Thomas 66 

Weston, Francis 55 

Weston, Francis 138 

Westminster Assembly 185 
Weymouth, Capt. 63 

Whalley, Edward 23 

WhaUey, Jane 23, 26 

Whalley, Richard 23 

What Cheer 129, 130 

Wickes, Francis 127, 135, 224 
Wiggin, Capt. 59 

William and Jane, ship 

59, 60, 97 
William, ship 59 

Williams, Alice 7, 8, 11 

Williams, James 7, 8, 11, 21 
Williams, Mary, wife of 

Roger 9, 26, 229 

Williams, Marv, daughter 

of Roger ^ 9, 39, 229 

Williams, Robert 

6, 9, 194, 241, 242 
Williams, Rodericus 13 



PAGE 

Williams, Roger 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 
8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 21, 
22, 23, 24, 26, 28, 29, 30, 
31, 32, 33, 34, 36, 37, 38, 39, 
40; letter of to Winthrop 41; 
44, 45, 47, 52, 56, 57, 58, 96, 
97, 98, 102, 105, 106, 107, 

108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 115, 
116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 122, 
125, 126, 129, 130, 133, 135, 
136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 
143, 144, 146, 147, 150, 152, 
155, 156, 159, 161, 162, 164, 
165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 172, 
174, 177, 178, 179, 186, 187, 
189, 190, 192, 194, 198, 199, 
201, 202, 205, 206, 207, 208, 
212, 213, 214, 215, 222, 223, 
227, 228; children of, 229; 
231 ; Challenges George 
Fox, 233; 234, 235, 238, 240, 
241, 244; grave of 246 

Williams, Sydrasc 7, 8, 10 

Willyams, William, of 

Roseworthy 4, 6 

Wilson, John 

25, 28, 33, 36, 38, 48 
Winslow, Edward 123, 126, 128 
Winthrop, John, 3, 29, 31, 33, 
34, 36, 38, 40; letter of Wil- 
liams to, 41; 46, 48, 49, 52, 
54, 59, 60, 61, 67, 69, 72, 73, 
80, 85, 86, 91, 92, 98, 102, 

109, 110, 117, 119, 126, 130; 
letter of, 131; 142, 143, 149, 
151, 156, 159, 164, 165, 185, 
187, 205, 206, 208, 212, 213, 
214, 215, 218, 219, 227. 

Winthrop, Margaret 34 

Wollaston, Capt. 74, 75 
Wollaston, Mount 

75, 79, 81, 82 

Wunhowatuckoogs 154 






^^ 



